The Red Hood
by CryInSorrow
Summary: Jason has returned to Gotham, this time set on cleaning it up, rather than on revenge. His methods are harsh and have drawn the ire of Bruce and his brothers. But worse than that, he's pissed off Black Mask, whose taken control of Gotham's underworld in the five years he was gone. Things are about to get ugly. -Sequel to "Arkham"-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Nightwing sighed as another boring patrol ended. Third night in a row now. If he didn't know any better he'd have thought he was actually making _progress_ in Bludhaven. He swung from the roof tops, landing on the fire escape of his apartment building. He pushed open the window and slipped inside the apartment. He heaved another sigh and went to take off his mask, until-

"Hey there Dickie-bird. Long time no see," came Jason's voice. Dick's heart started hammering in his chest as he peeled off the mask, looking toward the source of the voice. Jason pushed himself up from the kitchen table and strode toward him, a blood red mask tucked under his arm. A form fitting black shirt with a red bat symbol on it, clung to his torso with a black jacket slung around his shoulders. He wore black paramilitary pants, a pair of black combat boots, and black gloves.

"Hey Dick. How are you?" he asked, smirk tugging at his lips. Dick stared at him, dumbfounded, not sure whether to be pissed or happy. Jason fidgeted a little under Dick's gaze, until finally Dick crossed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Jason's, hands grabbing the other's face. Jason closed his eyes and kissed back eagerly, one of his hands cupping the back of his neck. But the kiss ended abruptly when Dick shoved him away.

Face flushed, Dick panted a bit, glaring at Jason.

"No! No, you were gone for five years! Five fucking years!" Dick snapped angrily. Jason recovered, leaning against the kitchen table, another cocky smirk tugging at his lips.

"How dare you?! You were gone for five years, and I didn't hear a single word from you in all that time! How could you...? And the killing! You..." Dick rambled on, pacing back and forth a bit. Jason just watched him, his expression neutral. He knew he deserved it.

"You...you need to go. I can't...I can't deal with this right now! I'm so pissed at you!" Dick hissed, arm slashing through the air. Jason chuckled in amusement and pressed a black domino mask on his face as he walked right past Dick. He stopped, pressing a quick kiss to the man's jaw before donning the red helmet again.

"Sorry Dickie-bird. Just wanted to see you," he said casually, slipping out the window and disappearing into the night. Dick stood there for several moments after he was gone, in complete silence...thinking.

 _Jason came back. I knew he would...but five years? Why didn't he...write, or call, or...anything? God damn him!_

After a year, Dick had tried to forget him, to fall out of love with him. But it never worked, nothing ever did. Even five years later, he still loved him, but five years, gone without a single word? _Asshole._

* * *

Seven men and a woman sat around a table in an abandoned warehouse, several bodyguards surrounding each of them. The room was thick with the smell of tobacco smoke, but also apprehension. Nobody seemed to know who called this 'meeting' and that seemed to put them all on edge; especially considering the heavily armed bodyguards each one of them possessed. The atmosphere tensed because violence could break out at any moment.

"...You didn't set this up? Then whose party is this?" Leon demanded to know, approaching the table and pointing at each of them.

"Don't look at me. I figured it was one of you east side losers. I figured you'd finally rolled over for the Black Mask and decided to ask us in," another of the men, Freddy, answered, lightning up another cigarette. He took a few drags, blowing the smoke into the air. It got into the woman's face and she glared at him.

"Blow that shit in my face one more time, and I'll burn your fucking eyes out," she snarled.

The smoker just gave a little chuckle of amusement and replied "cool your jets, Queenie."

The large black man beside him snorted and said "roll over? The Black Mask killed six of my crew in a month. Some of them were my best men." He glanced over at the man beside him and asked "I thought it was Chi Chi."

"Don't look at me," Chi Chi replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Screw this, I'm outta here. I don't have time for this crap," Freddy growled, pushing himself up out of the chair and slammed his hands down on the table.

"Sit down, Freddy. It's my meeting," came a voice from above. Everyone turned their attention to a figure on the catwalk above; there stood a figure whose build suggested he was in his early twenties. One hand gripped the railing while another held onto an AK-47.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the bodyguards snapped, pointing a gun up at him

"Who cares, just kill the little punk," one of the Drug Lords snapped, whipping out a gun. But before they could fire off a shot, The Red Hood fired off his assault rifle. Everyone dived out of the way as bullets pierced the table and a few of the chairs, and in a highly aggressive tone, the man said "I said sit down!" One of the crime bosses snarled, getting to his feet and pointing up at the newcomer.

"You wanna die? There's easier ways to kill yourself," he shouted furiously.

The Red Hood laughed coldly and retorted "yeah, like yelling at the guy whose carrying the assault rifle. Good job, genius." He leaned forward against the railing, leaning the rifle back against his shoulder. He glared down at the drug lords below; scum, all of them, but to clean up Gotham, he needed them. He was going to _make_ them clean up their own mess.

"Listen to me you drug pedaling scum bags, because I'm only going to say this once," he began. He paused for a minute as the crime bosses below sat back down at the table, turning their attention on him. He took a small bit of satisfaction in their angry glares, part of him glad he'd earned their ire.

"Good. Now, I have a business proposition for you. You eight are the most prosperous street dealers in Gotham. But like most of the trash in this city, you have one small problem," he began. The woman snorted and said "the Batman."

"I'm the Red Hood, and what I'm offering you is this; protection from the cops, Black Mask, and of course from Batman. In exchange, you will give me 40% of your profits," Red Hood pushed himself up off the railing, leaning his rifle against it instead.

"That's a lot more than your current handler, Black Mask ever lets you see. My protection extends only to Gotham, so keep it within the city. You will not deal to children. Stay away from schoolyards and playgrounds. If you do, I'll know about it," he said, standing up straight.

"And I'll _personally_ blow your fucking brains out. And don't think I won't."

The eight of them exchanged glances, then one of them looked up and said "a generous offer, but why the hell would we take orders from some punk kid?" Red Hood knelt down and hefted up a duffel bag and tossed it onto the table. The bag landed with a thud and attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

"That's why." Red Hood said nonchalantly. The eight crime bosses exchanged glances, then one of them slowly reached toward the bag and unzipped it. They looked inside and found a bunch of severed heads. One of them doubled over and threw up all over the floor.

"The heads of all of your lieutenants. I accomplished that in two hours. Now, use your imagination and picture what I could accomplish with an entire evening." Red Hood leaned back against the rail behind him, hefting the gun over his shoulder.

"I'm not _asking_ you to join me. I'm telling you. You're either with me, or with them," The Red Hood said smugly, gesturing toward the duffel bag. The drug lords fidgeted nervously and Freddy rubbed his throat with a nervous look.

"Oh, and spread the word, will ya? The Red Hood is back," the man said smoothly.

The eight drug lords exchanged glances, realizing they didn't have much of a choice. A few of them actually seemed to recognize The Red Hood's name.

One of them, Freddy, turned to him and said "The Red Hood? You're the guy that took control of some gangs five years ago, aren't you? Went after the Joker and got your ass kicked by Batman."

Freddy was grinning, and the Red Hood decided he did not like that, because he fired his assault rifle at the man again, quickly pulling out a hand gun and putting a bullet in one of his bodyguard's skulls, just as he was about to shoot. Freddy shrunk backward at the gunfire and Queenie punched his jaw.

"You're a fucking idiot, trying to get us all killed."

"At least one of you has common sense," The Red Hood said with a laugh. He glared down at Freddy and said darkly "yes, that was me. But I've had five years to learn from my mistakes. The offer remains the same; join me or, die. Next time, I won't miss Just ask your bodyguard over there." He nodded toward the dead bodyguard with a hole in his forehead, bleeding out on the floor.

"Fine. Sounds like we have a deal," Queenie said. They all looked back up to the catwalk to their new boss, but he was gone. They eight drug lords and their bodyguards exchanged glances, wondering exactly what they'd all gotten themselves into...

The Red Hood stood on top of the building, arms crossed, staring at the sea of lights that was Gotham. Five years had passed since his botched revenge attempt, and though his anger at Bruce had simmered a bit, he was still angry, but seeking revenge against the clown wasn't on the agenda this time. No, cleaning up Gotham was, but if the clown happened to make an appearance, well, he wasn't going to pass up the chance to splatter his brains all over a sidewalk.

* * *

Bruce sat in his study, a grim look on his face as he thought about the information Dick had just shared with him; Jason was back, and from the sounds of things, he was still running around in his old Red Hood persona, with some improvements, it seemed. He didn't want to fight with Jason again, he just wanted his son to come home, he wanted to help him.

But he knew, if Jason was back and still the Red Hood, things were about to get ugly in Gotham and the bodies were going to start piling up. Regardless, this could be his second chance, to talk to Jason, to help him, truly this time. It hadn't gone so well last time, but he held out hope, that these last five years had helped him mature, made him more level-headed. It was a small hope, but a hope nonetheless.

He viewed Jason's kidnapping, his torture, his turning into The Red Hood, as his fault, his greatest failure. The creation of the Joker couldn't compare, because Jason was his _son._ And he felt like he'd failed the boy.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," came Dick's voice. He looked up to the doorway to see Dick leaning there with a smirk on his face.

"I can tell what you're thinking by that look on your face. I'm just as guilty as you are," Dick said softly, coming to sit in a chair across from him.

"I ignored his call, remember?" Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"This is going to be hell, isn't it?" Bruce asked. Dick sighed and gave a nod.

"It is. But maybe things can be different this time," Dick offered, shrugging his shoulders and flashing a smile. Bruce eyed him for a few moments, admiring his optimism. Dick always was optimistic, even in the most serious moments. He was his opposite in every way.

"So what brings you here, Dick?" Bruce asked then. Dick frowned for a moment, digging his phone out of his pocket and eyeing it for a few moments. He knew the answer, but Bruce might have found it...silly.

"If Jason is here, I want to be here too, to help," Dick answered, pocketing the phone again. He looked up at Bruce who seemed...amused. Dick frowned and asked "what's wrong with that?"

"You still love him, don't you?" Dick snorted and waved his hand dismissively.

"That has nothing to do with it," he lied.

Bruce chuckled in amusement and replied "I notice you didn't deny it." Dick twitched, then glared at him.

"You're an ass."

"Whose an ass?" came Tim's voice. Dick turned around and spotted the raven haired teenager, dressed in a pair of blue track pants and a form fitting white muscle shirt. He had a towel draped over one shoulder and a cold water bottle pressed to his forehead.

"Dick, hey!" Tim said cheerily, when the older man turned around. Dick smiled at the boy and got to his feet, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey Timmy, nice to see you," Dick replied. Tim grinned and punched him in the guy, playfully.

"First, don't call me 'Timmy', and second, you need to visit more often! Don't get to see you too much these days," Tim replied. Dick frowned a bit, quickly replaced with a smile as he ruffled Tim's hair.

"Sorry baby bird, but I've just been really busy, between my police work and being Nightwing," Dick complained, shrugging his shoulders. Tim snickered and playfully jabbed Dick in the side with his elbow.

"I guess I'll have to come visit you then!" Dick chuckled and ruffled Tim's hair again.

"Hey Tim, Bruce and I nee to have a chat. Would you mind?" Dick asked. Tim just flashed another smile and left the room.

Dick turned back to Bruce and said "as much as I hate to say this, I think it'd be best if we keep Tim away from Jason. I know Jason won't kill him-" Dick was interrupted when another person made their presence known.

"Well, it's practically a family reunion," came Jason's voice. Bruce jumped up from his desk and Dick spun around on the spot. Jason was wearing his Red Hood gear, standing a short distance away from the office doorway.

"Jason," Dick breathed. Jason chuckled in amusement and pulled off the helmet.

"How did you get past security?" Dick asked.

Jason shrugged and said "Bruce trained me, remember? And I've added to that over the last five years. Really, I'm offended you sound so surprised."

"Why are you here?" Bruce asked. Jason frowned, then donned the helmet again.

"I'm here to clean up Gotham. And I'm here to warn you; don't get in my way."

"Or what? You'll kill us?" Dick asked sharply. Jason was silent, having no answer to give. Before anyone could react, he threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared when the smoke cleared.

"Well, he still knows how to make an entrance. And an exit. I'll give him that," Dick said with a shrug.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Batman and Red Robin sat perched atop a building in Downtown Gotham, tracking a shipment of drugs from the docks to a warehouse in the Bowery. When they found said warehouse, however, The Red Hood's thugs were waiting for Black Mask's men, ready to ambush the shipment.

Tim had decided against becoming Robin, in honor of Jason, the previous Robin, and instead chose the moniker 'Red Robin'. Tim didn't really know the whole story about what had happened to Jason, but he knew how utterly insane and psychotic the Joker was. He figured, if Jason was the Red Hood now, it had to have been the Joker that fucked up his mind.

"Damn, it's going to be a blood bath down there," Red Robin observed. Batman glanced over at him and gave a nod, then looked back down to the scene below. They had to stop it before a real fire fight broke out.

"Let's go, Robin. I'll handle The Red Hood's men, you go after Black Mask's," Batman said evenly. Red Robin gave a nod and made his way down to the truck below, grappling down, while Batman glided down toward Red Hood's men.

"The Red Hood sends his regards! Your corpses will be his message!" One of Red Hood's men shouted, unleashing a volley of assault rifle fire, his allies following suit. Black Mask's men ducked behind the truck for cover and returned fire. A flashbang exploded in the midst of the Red Hood thugs, blinding and disorienting them. Batman dropped down and took them out, one by one. He glanced over in Red Robin's directi0n to see the teen doing the same. The two groups were so focused on each other, they hadn't noticed either him _or_ Red Robin.

But it all seemed much too easy, and just from the look in Red Robin's eye, he seemed to agree. Batman scanned the area while Red Robin opened up the truck.

"Holy crap, Batman, come see this!" Red Robin called, waving him over. Batman glanced toward the truck and made his way over. What they'd found inside the truck, was high grade military weaponry, pricey stuff, likely from the Black Market.

"The Red Hood thanks you for your service, Batman," came a man's voice from behind them. Batman and Red Robin turned to see another of the Red Hood's thugs behind them. The man threw an active grenade toward the truck, and Red Robin and Batman both dived out of the way as the truck exploded. The man was grinning as he pointed a gun at them, but a sniper shot to the head killed him and the man collapsed dead. Batman and Red Robin looked around for the source and Batman spotted him; The Red Hood, standing on the top of a building to the left of them, waving them and armed with a sniper rifle. He took off moments later and Batman growled in annoyance, helping Red Robin up.

"He...he killed him. He just...shot him!" Red Robin said in a low tone, staring at the corpse.

"He also may have saved our lives," Batman admitted begrudgingly. He looked back up toward the building where he'd seen The Red Hood and contemplated giving chase, but by now, he'd be gone.

"Oracle, this is Batman. Can you get a read on the Red Hood?" he asked. A silence on Oracle's end, then a few seconds later "no, sorry. It's like he's blocking our tech from tracking him." Batman's lips tugged into a snarl; The Red Hood had barely been back in town for a week and he was already a step ahead of them.

"Come on, let's go rendezvous with Nightwing, he may need out help," Batman said smoothly, summoning the batmobile. Red Robin nodded in agreement and hopped into the car after him.

* * *

Nightwing fought through at least a dozen of Black Mask's men at China Docks. Oracle picked up a tip through the GCPD reports of a possible drug shipment tied to Black Mask coming through those docks. A dozen of Black Mask's men were down, but soon, a dozen more showed up. Whatever was in that shipment, he _really_ wanted it to get through.

"So anytime you guys want to just surrender, please, be my guest," Nightwing said nonchalantly, giving a shrug of his shoulders.

One of the men scoffed and retorted "if anyone should be surrendering here, it's you! These are fully automatic weapons, you don't stand a chance!" Nightwing snickered in amusement, fiddling with his eskrima sticks. He eyed each man carefully and took a quick glance at his surroundings then grinned.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm good to go," Nightwing replied, grappling up to a crate nearby. The men began unleashing volleys of gun fire as he ran along the crate. Nightwing dived off the crate a few yards down the way, spinning in the air and throwing a wing-ding. It sliced through the barrels of three of their guns, and as he landed, he ducked behind another crate. The men gave chased, rounding the corner of the crate, but he'd disappeared.

"Psst, I'm up here," he whispered from a crouched position on the crate above them. The men looked up and he dropped smoke bomb down on the men. A round of coughing fits and struggling to see made them easy picking for Nightwing, who simply donned a rebreather and turned on his mask's heat vision. He strode out of the smoke, flipping his escrima sticks through the air and then turned toward the boat carrying the drugs. He made his way over to it, but to his surprise, the shipping container exploded an an android strode out of it. Amazo.

"Shit," Nightwing murmured, readying his escrima sticks again. The android jumped to the dock and fired lasers from his eyes which Nightwing easily avoided. He made a move to attack, but something nailed the android from a distance. The Red Hood dived down from a shipping crate suspended above as it dropped on top of the android, and landed beside Nightwing.

"Thanks for the help, but I got this. You just go ahead and run along now," the man said nonchalantly.

Nightwing snorted and replied "yeah, not happening." The ruined crate rose into the air as Amazo lifted it up and threw it at the two of them. Both of them dived out of the way and then lunged in for the attack.

"It's called Amazo! Black Mask brought the thing here to kill me," The Red Hood called to Nightwing, avoiding a punched, before launching back in and nailing it in the head with electrified brass knuckles. Nightwing attacked from the other side and slammed his electrified escrima sticks into it's legs, the combination attack toppling the android.

"Well aren't you just a special snowflake," Nightwing called back to him. Red Hood laughed out loud and threw a bunch of mini grenades at the android as it got back to its feet. The grenades exploded, staggering it.

"He _really_ wants me dead for some reason. Can't imagine why, I mean come on, I'm so lovable!" Nightwing's turn to laugh now as he threw an explosive wing-ding at Amazo. The android grabbed it out of the air and it exploded, searing the fake flesh off its arm and damaging the hand.

"How do we kill it?" Nightwing asked as the android lunged at him.

"Same way you kill a person! Only this thing's tougher!" The Red Hood called, following after Amazo. Nightwing managed to pull himself from its grip by jamming a wing-ding into its neck, then jumped off of its head to land on a crate above. Red Hood showered it in gunfire from a pair of pistols and as Amazo turned around to face him, the android let out a bellow.

"Choke on this," he said evenly, tossing a bunch of mini-grenades down its throw. The grenades exploded and Amazo's head burst as the corpse fell to the ground. The Red Hood laughed and sauntered over to it, giving it a kick.

"Black Mask is going to be _pissed!_ " he said in a cheerful tone. Nightwing hopped dwon from the crate above and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What exactly are you doing, Jason?" he asked. He looked up at Nightwing and pulled the mask of, wearing the black domino mask underneath and grinning like the devil.

"What does it look like I'm going? I'm cleaning up Gotham! Of course, Black Mask made it easy by taking over most of Gotham's crime, and you and Batman have been a big help-"

"You mean you're using us?" Jason snorted and tucked the helmet underneath his arm.

"Not at all. I told you all to stay out of my way. Getting involved was your choice, not mine," Jason replied.

Nightwing snorted and answered "but you knew we would. So you've manipulated us." Jason just gave a shrug and Nightwing shook his head, drawing his escrima sticks again.

"I'm sorry Jason, but you're killing people. That makes you a criminal," Nightwing said softly. Jason's expression soured as he donned the helmet again.

"What, you're going to stop me, Dickie-bird?" he asked. Nightwing simply gave a nod. They stood in silence, staring each other down. Neither one of them seemed willing to make a move.

"I don't want to hurt you, Dick. I don't want to hurt Tim or Bruce either, but if you keep getting in my way, I'll do what I have to do." The two of them heard the screech of the batmobile's tires not far from their position, and that served as a distraction to Jason. Nightwing made his move and lunged at Jason, bringing an escrima stick down at his shoulder. Jason cursed and caught the other one in mid-air, balling his free hand into a fist and nailing Nightwing in the stomach. He pressed the attack and headbutted him, and as he staggered, he kicked him in the gut and sent him sprawling backward.

"Sorry," he said quickly before grappling up to a nearby stack of crates and racing off into the night. Nightwing groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position as Batman and Red Robin rounded the corner. Red Robin knelt beside him and helped him to his feet. Batman eyed the corpse of Amazo and turned his attention onto Nightwing.

"What happened?" Batman asked. Nightwing sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Jason happened," he answered evenly.

* * *

Jason shut the door of his safe house behind him and placed the helmet on the table. It was more or less a cozy apartment he'd been renting in Midtown, with a single bathroom, one bedroom, a small kitchen and a small living room. It was a bit nicer than his other safe houses, which were scattered throughout Uptown, Midtown and Downtown. Each and every one of them was rented under a different alias, this particular safe house under the name 'Marcus Miller'.

He grabbed a beer and then flopped down onto the old couch in the living room and flipped on the tv. He chugged some of the beer, only half paying attention to the tv. He knew from the get go that Bruce, Dick, and Tim would all get involved, all try to stop him, but he had to _try_ and convince them not to. He really _didn't_ want to hurt them, but he was the only one who knew what had to be done.

Throwing criminals in the asylum of Blackgate wasn't making a difference at all. They'd get out and the cycle would begin anew. The only way to end it, was to end them. Talia helped him to see that while he traveled abroad, training under his various masters. All of which he killed for the various, and often times heinous, crimes they committed.

"Ugh, Jason, what've you gotten yourself into this time?" he muttered to himself, stretching out over the couch and taking another swig of his beer. He was prepared this time, better trained, more patient. Black Mask controlled the vast majority of Gotham's underworld, but he lacked tactic, strategy. He was overly aggressive with a temper that made his own look tame. It wouldn't take much to get him to slip up, and then he'd take him down. For good.

He couldn't help but think back to the hurt expression on Dick's face when he first showed up in Bludhaven, and then again earlier tonight. He almost felt bad, because he still loved Dick, but he would never understand what it was he was doing. He was cleaning up Gotham, he was making a real difference! Maybe if he could talk to him...no, that wouldn't work. He and Bruce were too close, he'd never understand. And he doubted Tim would either. He was on his own here.

* * *

Black Mask threw his desk across the office and let out a frustrated roar.

"HE DESTROYED AMAZO?! AND MY WEAPONS?!" He shouted angrily, glaring at his men. He stormed up to one of them and punched him in the jaw, then turned to Ms. Li, who remained calm and collected.

"Yes sir. We don't know how he knew about Amazo, but-"

"Maybe someone's got a motormouth!" He shouted, looking over his other men. He turned back to Ms. Li and said "find out where the leak is! And when you find him, DROWN HIM IN A POOL OF HIS OWN VOMIT!" Black Mask hollered, punched out another of his men.

"Anything else, sir?" Ms. Li asked. Black Mask growled and waved his hand dismissively.

"On second thought, get me some assassins. I want that punk's head mounted on my wall," Black Mask said darkly.

Ms. Li gave a bow of her head and replied "I'll see that it's done."

Black Mask looked out the window over the city below, lips curled into a snarl.

"That little prick wants a war, he's fuckin' got one."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Dick and Tim were sparring with each other in the cave while Bruce worked at the batcomputer to find a way to track Jason down. He needed to find him and put a stop to all of this before it escalated. Before the Red Hood showed up, Black Mask controlled the lion's share of Gotham's underworld, but now, Black Mask was at war with the Red Hood and surprisingly, crime went down. But Jason was a crime lord now...

"Nice move Tim!" Dick complimented, barely blocking a kick from the teen. Tim grinned as he flipped backward and braced for an incoming attack from Dick. Dick swung a fist, which Tim blocked, but Dick quickly ducked down and swung at his legs. Tim flipped over Dick's head but the older man spun around and nailed him with a kick as he landed, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Ow." Dick laughed and extended a hand, helping the teen up top his feet. Tim grabbed his hand and Dick hauled him to his feet, both of them panting from exertion.

"So...18th birthday coming by baby bird. How about-" Dick began, but he was interrupted by a message from Oracle. He and Tim turned toward the batcomputer as soon as they heard her voice.

"Oracle here. Black Mask's men are attacking one of The Red Hood's clubs in midtown. Whatever he's done, he's really pissed Black Mask off." Batman nodded and looked back toward Dick and Tim.

"Get up and let's go," he said, pulling on his cowl and making for the batmobile. Tim and Dick exchanged glances before they too grabbed their gear. Once they were ready, they joined Batman in the batmobile and took off for the club in midtown.

* * *

Jason watched, mildly amused as Black Mask's thugs stormed his club. Good thing he planted that bug in Black Mask's office. He was also expecting assassins, and Ms Li hired the Fearsome Hand of Four. No big deal, it should be easy to take care of. Batman, Red Robin and Nightwing would show up in due time, but that presented another problem entirely; they'd try to apprehend him once the assassins were taken care of.

Well, that _would_ have been a problem, if he hadn't already devised a plan to take care of that. One or two of them he could handle on his own and escape, but all three? Not so much. So he devised a way to force their attention to split; while Black Mask's assassins came after him, The Red Hood's men would stir up trouble with Black Mask's at one of his major warehouses in Uptown. And just for insurance purposes, he had another team ready to go at Admiral Docks on Sandy Hook. Black Mask had a major warehouse on those docks. In fact, he controlled them, so taking them from him would be an added bonus on top of it all. It would force Batman, Nightwing, and Red Robin to divide their attention between three different locations.

"Well, showtime I guess," The Red Hood said to himself, dropping down from the building above and striding across the street and into the club. Black Mask's men were tearing the blade up, and now it was his turn to tear them up.

"Now isn't this cute! Black Mask thinks he's people," The Red Hood joked, grabbing their attention. There were only five of them, all wielding melee weapons, save for one who brandished a sub-machine gun. The men turned on the spot and growled, not waiting to attack. The Red Hood drew a pair of hand guns and shot one of the men, wielding a baseball bat, in the head. He dived out of the way as SMG rounds rained down on him an threw a handful of mini-grenades over the top of the bar.

The men screamed as they exploded, merely knocking them out cold. The two remaining men, on wielding a baseball bat and the other a crowbar, came at him. He just laughed as he rained a series of strikes on the first man, and hit the other with his buddy. He cocked his gun and shot each of them once in the head before striding out the back of the bar.

"So, you must be the Red Hood," came a woman's voice from above him. The Red Hood snorted and said "no, I'm Santa Clause." She hopped down, wielding dual katanas and following her, was a large, heavily muscled man, another with a bow staff, and the fourth was scrawny, unarmed, with an energy cannon on his helmet.

"Oh me, oh my, I'm surrounded! Is this the end for the poor Hood! Whatever shall I do!" he cried out in an exaggerated worried tone.

"Cute, but we'll see how cute you are when we toss your head onto the boss' desk," the man said, lunging in at him.

"You wanna dance, then let's dance doll face," he taunted, raining gunfire down on her. She deflected the shots with her blades and he retreated up the side of the building to give himself more room to maneuver. The assassins followed and an energy blast shot over his shoulder. The man with the staff attacked first, raining a series of attacks on The Red Hood that he easily avoided, followed up by the woman with the katanas.

"Now we've got ourselves a party!" he called, as the heavy-set man charged in at him.

* * *

As Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin headed for the Midtown Night Club, 'The Rusty Nail,' Oracle called them over the comm. Channel again.

"Hold up, I'm receiving another feed. Some of the Red Hood's men are attacking one of Black Mask's major shipping houses down at Admiral Docks. And I just got another report of a raid going down on one of Black Mask's major warehouses in Uptown." Oracle said. Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin exchanged glances; Jason was certainly busy tonight.

"Alright, Red Robin, this will be your first solo mission, so be careful. I want you to go to the club. Nightwing, take Admiral Docks. I'll go to Uptown. Understood?" Batman asked. Red Robin and Nightwing each gave a nod as the car came to a stop, each of them getting out. Red Robin summoned his motorcycle and Nightwing his Wing Glider and they each went their separate ways. Batman started up the Batmobile again ans peeled off for Uptown.

"Oracle, can you give us any insight into what's going on?" Batman asked. Oracle was silent for a time, save tor the sound of keys clicking on a keyboard.

"I'm afraid I don't know, except to say that it seems the Red Hood is making major power plays against Black Mask, taking his more important territories," she replied. Batman scowled, wondering why the sudden increase in activity. Regardless, they needed to stop Jason now, before it was too late.

* * *

The Red Hood crashed against the wall behind him, the fight having taken them across the way to an empty lot. He struggled to his feet as the man with the staff tilted his head up with the end of the staff.

"Oh, isn't this cute, you guys think you've actually won," The Red Hood said with a laugh. The woman strode forward, katanas in hand and said "of course we have. You can't bet us. Though frankly, I was expecting more of a fight. It's hard to believe the Black Mask had trouble with you." The Red Hood laughed in amusement and said "oh babe, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

In that moment, Red Robin lunged in at the man with the energy cannon, wielding a bo staff and knocking him down. He quickly drew a birdarang and knocked one of the woman's katanas out of her hand just as she was about to strike at The Red Hood. The man smirked underneath his mask and quickly spun around, swiping the woman's legs out from underneath herm then grabbed her before she fell and knocked her out with a headbutt.

"So, they sent the baby bird to come save the day," Red Hood mused, ducking a punch from the largest of the group.

"Yeah, lucky for you. Looked like you were about to lose your head," Red Robin called back, match the staff wielder blow for blow. The Red Hood laughed and replied "if it makes you feel better to think that, have at it, baby bird." Red Hood threw a handful of sticky grenades at the large man and they exploded, sending him crashing back against the wall, head colliding violently and knocking him out cold.

The staff wielder was soon dispatched by Red Robin, leaving only the energy cannon.

"Look out!" Red Hood shouted, shoving Red Robin out of the way. He grunted in pain and was thrown back violently as an energy blast slammed into his chest. Red Robin turned and lunged in at the guy, swinging his staff. The man dived over it and Red Robin spun around, throwing mini-grenades at him. The exploded in mid-air, sending the guy flying higher.

When the man came down, he collided with the ground and skidded a short distance across the ground. When he got to his feet, he searched for the Red Hood, only to be clothes-lined by said vigilant and knocked out cold.

"Sweet dreams, princess," the man said, pulling out a gun to end him, but Red Robin stopped him.

"No wait! They're defeated, you don't need to kill them! Please!" he shouted, reaching out toward him. He took off the red mask and looked toward Red Robin, to Tim, and frowned, holstering the hand gun.

"Alright then, baby bird. They can live. For now," he said evenly. Red Robin sighed in relief.

"Thank you. I knew there was still good in you, Jason," he said with a smile. Jason snorted and replied "of course there is. I'm cleaning up Gotham." Red Robin took a few steps toward him, tucking away the staff and asked "by becoming a criminal yourself?" Jason turned away from him and walked off.

"Hey!"

"You won't understand, you're a good kid. Tell Dickie-bird I said 'hi'," Jason replied before grappling to a building across the way and vanishing into the night.

* * *

"You're saying...he spared their lives because you asked him to?" Dick asked, quirking an eyebrow. He, Bruce and Tim had returned to the cave, while Tim explained what happened between him and Jason.

"Yeah, he did. He also saved me. He took that energy shot for me," Tim explained. Dick and Bruce exchanged glances and wordlessly agreed on one thing; the Jason they knew and loved was still alive and well. But for Dick, that was hope. Hope that maybe he could talk some sense into Jason.

While Tim and Bruce talked, Dick walked off a bit by himself, thinking. If he could find Jason and just _talk_ to him, maybe they could put all of this behind them. He wanted nothing more than to be Jason's boyfriend again, to kiss him and hold him, but at the same time, Jason was a killer. He couldn't...he loved Jason, really, but...it was just so confusing. How could you love a person, and hate them at the same time? No, hate was too strong of a word, that wasn't it at all. _Disappointed_ fit better. He knew Jason was aggressive and angry, but a killer, he had never been, not before the Joker kidnapped him.

"Dick?" Tim asked, patting the older man on the shoulder. Dick, snapped out of his thoughts, spun around on the spot and flashed a fake smile.

"What's up Tim?" he asked. Tim quirked an eyebrow, the look on his face seemed to say "you can't lie to me'. It seemed Tim was better at reading body language and facial expressions than he'd expected. Dick sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's Jason...I..."

"You think he's lost?" Tim asked. Dick looked at him and gave a nod. It seemed they were both on the same wavelength. Except Tim wasn't aware that he and Jason had once been lovers. So Tim only knew half the story. Maybe it was time he told him?

"I love Jason. He and I were...together...before he left five years ago," Dick explained. Tim just looked up at him, patient and attentive for which Dick was grateful. Tim didn't seem to be judging him or questioning him at all.

"I guess I'm just kind of holding out hope that we can get him back. That we can get him to stop all this before it gets too far out of hand," Dick explained. Tim smiled at him and gave him a hug.

"I'm sure it'll all work out. Just gotta think positive, y'know?" Dick smiled at the teen and ruffled his hair.

"Thanks Tim. In a strange way, that makes me feel better," Dick answered. He turned his attention to Bruce then and followed after the man.

"Hey Bruce!" he called. Tim watched him go, formulating a plan in his mind. It was thanks to Dick that Bruce had finally made him Robin. Or rather, offered him the position. He'd have been stuck in training a lot longer if not for Dick, so he owed him. And besides that, he was like the big brother he never really had. So for Dick, he decided he was going to find Jason himself, and he had a few ideas on that point...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jason Jumped from roof top to roof top, having successfully destroyed another of Black Mask's shipments. He took pride in knowing the crime boss was pissed as hell, even more so in knowing he was the cause of it. Black Mask was a dangerous man, he knew that. He could take the man out himself but that would have left a power vacuum and what was left of his organization would fight for control and that would cause utter chaos.

No, he had to fight fire, with fire. He had to take Black Mask's territory and tear down his organization while building up one of his own. Then when Black Mask finally slipped up, finally made a mistake, Jason could swoop in and finish him off, and his organization would be too weak to defend against the inevitable take over. That would leave Jason in the perfect position to control the overwhelming majority of Gotham's crime, and in the process, keep the city clean.

He finally arrived at his destination; the apartment he grew up in in the Bowery, before he met Batman. It was so obvious a hiding place that he knew Bruce and Dick would dismiss the idea that he could possibly be here, which made it the perfect safe house. He made his way inside and pulled off his helmet, tossing it onto the chair nearby and raking his hands through his hair, a lock of white spilling through his fingers. He looked around the room before peeling off his mask and shucking off his jacket.

He strode into the kitchen and dug through the refrigerator for a beer and then flopped down onto the couch, grabbing up a book off the coffee table nearby: _Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex._ On top of his love for painting, drawing, and occasionally video games, he loved to read as well. Most people took one look at him and didn't see a reader. Hell, before Bruce took him in, he _wasn't_ a reader.

Of course, he hadn't really had time to settle in, when a knock sounded at his door. He glared at it and grabbed one of his hand guns, suddenly feeling very paranoid. He moved toward the door, holding the gun behind his back; nobody ever came to visit him, which made this all the more suspicious. When he reached the door he yanked it open and pointed the gun at...Tim?

"Hey," Tim said with a smile, unperturbed by the sight of a gun in his face. The teen was dressed in a red jacket and a white undershirt with a pair of black jeans. Jason just gaped at him in surprise as the teen let himself inside, closing the door behind him. How the fuck did the kid know he was here?

"Nice place. Little shabby. Guess I expected something a little nicer for a Crime Lord, but it's still nice," Tim said casually, strolling and looking around the apartment. Jason watched the kid with interest and placed the gun on the table.

"Uh, what the fuck are you doing here? How did you even _find_ me?" Jason asked in an annoyed tone. Tim spun around on the spot and flashed a smirk.

"Just thought I'd drop by and talk to you! If you're wondering how I found you, it wasn't really hard. I looked at your file on the batcomputer and found out where you lived before Bruce adopted you and figured that that was where you had to be, simply because it was so obvious that neither Bruce or Dick would've considered it." Jason scowled and walked past him and back to the couch, flopping down and sipping his beer.

"You're too smart for your own good, kid," Jason muttered, glancing up at him out of the corner of his eye. He hooked a thumb toward the kitchen and said "help yourself. It must be well past milk time now though." Tim snorted and flipped him off, moving to the kitchen to grab a soda and flopped down beside Jason. Jason looked over at him curiously, wondering why the fuck the kid was even here.

"Dick misses you, y'know," Tim said, sipping his soda. Jason snorted, glancing over at Tim before picking his book back up.

"Yeah? Daddy bats know you're here? He'd probably flip shit if he caught you talking to me," Jason replied nonchalantly.

Tim gave a shrug and replied "no, he doesn't know I'm here. They kept telling me you're dangerous-" "I kind of am" "-but I don't think you are. Not to good people anyway." Jason shifted in the couch and stared Tim down, the teen fidgeting slightly under the older man's gaze.

"Why are you _really_ here, Timmy bird?" Jason asked with a slight smirk. 'Because Dick misses you' wasn't a good enough reason. There was another reason Tim was here, and he wanted to know it. Tim looked up at him, locking eyes with him and said "because I think you're a good person, doing bad things, but for good reasons. You're helping people, but you're also hurting others. And I think you still care about Dick and Bruce." And Tim _had_ to go an push the Bruce button. He was on a roll until he said that. Jason snorted and shoved himself up off of the couch.

"Bruce, huh? He can go take a flying fuck off a tall bridge into a deep lake," Jason snapped, retreating into the kitchen. Tim followed moments later and Jason glanced up at him from the fridge as he pulled out half a sub sandwich. He unwrapped it, cut some off and flopped down at the kitchen table, taking a bite out of it.

"He blames himself, y'know? For everything that's happened to you. He just wants to help you," Tim said carefully. Jason glared up at him again, swallowing the food before he waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Yeah? He had his chance to help me, by blowing that deranged clown's brains out. Or t the very least, letting him die for what he did to me," Jason spat. He wasn't enjoying this conversation and would have preferred it ended. He got up from the table and threw the rest of the sandwich out, having lost his appetite and stood right in front of Tim, arm's crossed and said "nice chat baby bird, but if you only came here to guilt trip me about how Bruce feels bad, it's not working. I could care less." He strode into the living room and opened the door, gesturing for him to leave.

"It's not the only reason I came here. You're also my brother, technically. I thought maybe I could get to know you, understand why you're doing what you're doing." Jason snorted.

"Because I'm fucked in the head, kid. Trust me, you _don't_ want to know me. In fact, the less you have to do with me, the better. So just go, okay?" Tim flashed a sad smile at Jason before heading out of the apartment. Jason closed the door and went back to his own room, peeling off his shirt and flopping down on the bed. It was still early in the night, barely past midnight, but after this little fiasco, he wasn't in the mood. Besides that, he'd have to abandon this place to keep from being found. He hadn't expected Tim to be so god damn perceptive.

"Ugh, fuck my life," he muttered into his pillow.

* * *

The next night, he was preparing to go out again. Black Mask had hired Killer Croc to take him on this time which was an interesting choice. Perhaps the man was getting desperate and grasping at straws. Still, Killer Croc would be a fun work out. As he pulled on his jacket and put his helmet on, there was a knock at his door.

 _No fuckin' way. It can't be that kid again._

He instead opted not to answer it and fled out the window; he'd have to pick a different safe house tonight. Tim wasn't a bad kid, just annoying with his damn concern and perceptiveness. He didn't want any of it. Of course he didn't get far when he realized he was being followed and looked back to see Red Robin behind him, not even trying to stay out of sight.

"Stalking me now, baby bird? Jason called back, stopping at the edge of a building, one foot perched on the head of a gargoyle as he looked down to the lot below about twenty yards away from the building. There was a warehouse there with several men firing guns on Killer Croc, who was naturally brushing off the gunfire like mosquito bites.

Red Robin stopped beside him and said "I told you, I wanted to help you."

"I kill people. Can you handle that, kid?" Red Hood asked. Red Robin snorted.

"You can't kill Killer Croc. Many people have tried. Hell, I once stuffed a grenade down his throat and he brushed it off like it was a chili pepper," Red Robin said with a grin. Red Hood chuckled in amusement at his own memories of fighting Killer Croc, having remembered trying that once.

"Yeah well, you can't help. If my men see me rolling with you, it'll fuck things up," Red Hood replied. Red Robin shrugged and said "so I'll beat the crap out of them too. Make it look like I'm just showing up."

"Without Batman? It'll never work."

"Wouldn't be my first solo mission, y'know."

"Fine, just wait here a bit and stay out of my way."

Jason jumped down from the building above just as Killer Croc had scattered his men like rag dolls across the lot.

"Killer Croc. As ugly as ever I see. You should try skin lotion! You gotta little something right here," Jason said, gesturing to all of himself. Killer Croc snarled and lunged in at Jason. Jason flipped over his head, using it like a platform and flipping further into the air, spinning in mid air and throwing a handful of mini grenades.

"Black Mask wants you head on his wall. May as well rip it off with my bare hands," Killer Croc growled, charging at Red Hood, grenades exploding on him to no effect. Jason ducked back from a claw swipe, then another and then attempted to flip over Croc's head, but the beast grabbed him by his ankle and threw him into a wall. Red Hood collide with the wall, his men just staring as he collected himself in time to be slammed by the beast. He groaned in pain as he was crushed between Croc and the wall. He glanced over at his men and growled "don't just stand there! Make yourselves useful!"

But before they could act, Red Robin jumped down and smacked them all with his staff, sending them all flying backwards. He punched on some others, aiming guns at him and dived out of the way of the gun fire, throwing flash bangs at them. The grenades blinded the man, as well as Killer Croc, allowing Jason to wiggle free.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I like my head where it is! Yours on the othr hand, would make a damn nice trophy!" Red Hood called, flipping over his hand and throwing smoke bombs at him. Now blind, coughing and enraged, Killr Croc went on a blind rampage.

"I'll eat you alive!" Killer Croc shouted angrily. Red Hood and Red Robin dived out of the way of the rampaging beast and when he regained his vision, he lunged at Red Hood again.

"That's right, come and get me! I'll turn you into a pair of boots!" Red Hood taunted. Killer Croc made a move to strike as Red Hood stood there, waiting for a blow that he knew would never come. A hand full of gas grenades flew his way and exploded in front of Killer Croc's face. Red Hood chuckled in amusement; so blinded by rage, he forgot all about Red Robin. He was knocked out cold by heavy doses of sleeping gas.

"Sleeping gas?"

"Yep."

"Nice." Red Hood turned to his men and snorted "get the fuck out of here. Make sure word gets back to Black Mask; The Red Hood is coming for him." The men muttered 'yes sirs' and retreated. Red Hood turned back to Red Robin who was contacting the GCPD to come and pick up Killer Croc. And just for good measure, he'd brought special restraints designed to hold super humans.

"Damn, baby bird always comes prepared! You know, if Nightwing or Batman knew you were here helping me-"

"They do," came Nightwing's voice from above, the black and blue clad vigilante landing beside Red Robin. Red Hood snickered at the slightly embarrassed look on Red Robin's face.

"Hmm, looks like you've been busted," Red Hood teased. Nightwing glared at him, then turned to Red Robin and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! You know how dangerous his...work...is?" Nightwing asked, glancing back at Red Hood. Red Robin snorted and shoved Nightwing's hands off of him.

"I'm not a baby, Nightwing. And besides, everything went fine. Red didn't even kill anyone tonight!" Red Robin replied defensively. Nightwing sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before turning his attention on Red Hood.

"And you just let him tag along?" Nightwing asked, tone even. Red Hood shrugged.

"I didn't let him do anything, It was his choice, and besides, he handled himself well. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got other work to do. So you and baby bird can go home and you can coddle him like a child when you get back," Jason replied with a cocky smirk, taking off into the night via grappling hook.

Nightwing turned back to Red Robin and said "Batman knows you left. He was tracking you, y'know. Did you honestly believe you could sneak out without him knowing?" Tim shrugged.

"Not really, but I wanted to help Jason. You were right, he's still good and I think he'd worthy of our help, even if we don't agree with his methods. He's trying to do good, regardless of how he goes about it." Nightwing frowned, because he knew Red Robin was right. Jason _was_ trying to do good, even if he was killing people. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"Well, c'mon, let's go home and let Bats know you're alright. You know you're in deep shit for this stunt, right?"

"Probably. But it was worth it," Red Robin replied. He looked back to where Red Hood had just been standing, and smiled.

"There _is_ still hope for him, just like you said."

* * *

"SON OF A BITCH!" Black Mask roared, throwing yet another desk across the room. He stormed up to Ms. Li, who stood stoic as ever and shouted "that mother fucker has brushed off everything I've thrown at him! EVERYTHING!" He stormed back toward the window, them back to his men and back handed one of them. He turned to Ms. Li and said "I threw men at him! The Fearsome Hand of Four! Killer Croc! THIS SCUM BAG JUST WON'T DIE!" Black Mask shouted. One of his men coughed and he glared at the offender, punching him in the jaw.

"SHUT UP!" He turned back to Ms. Li again and said "why hasn't Batman wiped this little smear off the face of Gotham yet?!" Ms. Li was silent for a few moments as she watched her boss stalk off toward the window again.

"Perhaps he's letting you and him kill each other. Perhaps he's waiting for a clear winner." Black Mask turned, a scowl on his face as he stormed toward his men, two of which had only just recovered from the beatings they took before he punched them both out again.

"What do you think this is?! A tennis tournament?!" He shouted, punched out the third man. The fourth flinched a bit and he smirked slightly before punching him too.

"No, there's another reason Batman hasn't taken the little punk out yet," Black Mask growled lowly. He turned back to Ms. Li and said "Scarecrow! Get me Scarecrow!"

"Consider it done, sir."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Red Hood growled under his breath having just received a call from one of his Crime Lords that his men down at the docks were killing each other, screaming about 'monsters' and the terrified looks on their faces. He immediately knew what the problem was: Scarecrow.

Which presented another problem; Black Mask was truly getting desperate to elevate to such drastic measures. Meaning he had to take him out soon, or he might call on the Joker next, and that'd be a disaster. As much as he liked to entertain the idea of the Joker being out, so he could beat the clown within an inch of his life before splattering his brains all over a sidewalk, he had to think of Gotham first, over his own revenge.

He could probably take Scarecrow down by himself, but why take any risks? He'd been on the receiving end of Scarecrow's Fear Gas before and it wasn't pleasant to say the least. That's where he'd gotten that lock of white hair from. Thus, he sent Oracle an 'anonymous tip' that Scarecrow had escaped from Arkham Asylum. Not that it would have mattered; they'd likely know who sent the tip anyway.

For now, he had to go deal with his fear gassed men; he didn't care about their lives, but he didn't want them spilling out onto the streets shooting unarmed civilians. He'd let Batman and Nightwing handle Scarecrow (he was pretty sure Tim was grounded for his little stunt a few nights ago).

Red Hood arrived at the docks to a bloodbath; corpses of his men lay everywhere and more still were killing each other. He growled in annoyance at the sight before him; having lost so many men was bound to set him back a bit. Not that it was going to matter. After seeing this, he needed to end Black Mask's threat tonight before things escalated further.

"Let me help," came Nightwing's voice from behind him. Red Hood turned to see Nightwing flip through the air and land beside him. He snorted in amusement, honestly expecting him to go with Batman instead of show up here.

"You here to play the part of Jiminy Cricket? Keep me from killing this trash?" he asked in an annoyed tone. He didn't wait for an answer before he jumped into combat with Nightwing right behind him.

"You can stop criminals without killing them," Nightwing called over his shoulder, raining a series of quick jabs on one of the men to disable him. Red Hood snorted, whipping out a pair of pistols and raining gunfire on the delusional men in front of him. He was using rubber bullets, not that he was going to tell _him_ that. After his last few run ins with Tim, he'd decided that _maybe_ killing should only be used when necessary. In this instance, he could simply take them down and still protect the civilians. And of course since they wouldn't be dead, they'd still serve his purposes later.

"Yeah? And what's to stop them from coming back and doing it again?" Red Hood called back, ducking a swing from one of the men and slamming his fist into his gut. Three more were on him, hailing him with gunfire, which he easily avoided, ducking back behind some crates and throwing a handful of gas grenades at the men. They exploded paralytic gas (temporary of course) and the men dropped to the ground.

Nightwing, meanwhile, was practically dancing around them, taking them out without taking a single hit. Red Hood watched with mild amusement; his fighting style was always highly acrobatic and aerial, all about 'move more and get hit less'. It was great, really, but he preferred brutality, speed and power, a straight up knuckle-bruising fight. In an odd way, their fighting styles seemed to compliment each other and so they worked well together.

"We are! We're what's stopping them!" Nightwing called back, finishing off the last two thugs by knocking their heads together. Red Hood snorted as the two vigilantes approached each other.

"Well, if that were true, then explain to me why the Joker, or Scarecrow, or Killer Croc, to name a few, keep adding new bodies to the local cemetery," Red Hood said flatly. Nightwing opened his mouth to speak, but he knew Red Hood had a point. But neither he or Batman were killers. And most certainly not him. He didn't know what he'd do if he took a life, even if only accidentally.

In that moment, Red Hood's cell phone went off. Growling, he flipped it open and attached a small black box to it, to prevent the call from being traced.

"What is it, Tyler?!" Red Hood growled. He listened to the man speak and swore again, slamming the phone shut.

"What's up?" Nightwing asked.

Red Hood looked up at him and said "that was Tyler Bramford. Another of my warehouses has come under fire from fear gas. I'm out. Catch you later." Nightwing grabbed his arm and stopped him, forcing the younger to look at him.

"You're not going alone. I'm coming with you." Red Hood snorted and yanked his arm away.

"No you're not. If they see me hanging around with you, it'll fuck things up. Go help Batman or something. I don't care," he snapped. Though honestly, a part of him actually _wanted_ Nightwing to come with him. He knew he was being a bit of an ass, because he honestly still cared about the man, but he needed to maintain his reputation. That was everything in the Underworld.

Before he could reply, Red Hood grappled up to a nearby building and took off.

"Ugh, you stubborn ass," Nightwing murmured, watching him go with a small, amused smile.

* * *

Batman had managed to track Scarecrow to to sewers underneath the Bowery. He'd apparently been spreading his fear gas to Red Hood's men from underneath them using the sewer system, but now Batman was closing in and was going to put an end to it. Though his instincts told him this was a trap, he honestly had no choice.

"Nightwing is on his way, he just finished subduing Red Hood's men at the docks and is on his way now," Oracle said over the comm link. Batman said nothing as he continued through the sewer tunnels, searching for Scarecrow.

"Nightwing here, what's your location? I can rendezvous with you and we can take Scarecrow down together," Nightwing offered.

"The Bowery, in the sewers. Beneath-" Batman began, interrupted by Oracle.

"He's beneath Jezebel Center," Oracle answered.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly," Nightwing replied.

Batman continued forward and then the silence was again broken by Scarecrow's laugh.

"A lost little bat comes wandering into the spider's next, knowing not where his search will take him," came the demented doctor';s voice. Batman chose to ignore it but drew a batarang, ready to retaliate at a moment's notice.

"Unfortunately for you, I have a busy night ahead of me. I've not time to play with wayward bats," Scarecrow continued on. Batman remained silent, ever vigilant, Oracle occasionally supplying him with info. There was a large opening ahead to which he was reluctant to enter. But he did. He stopped, looking around carefully, but when he looked up-

"Show me your fears!" Scarecrow called, jumping down onto Batman and injecting him with fear toxin. Batman growled as Scarecrow laughed and ducked back, showing off his new glove; a glove with syringes on each finger.

"Do you like it? A new toy of mine, injects fear toxin into my targets. Fear is such an exquisite thing, is it not? And this toxin will bring yours to life and keep you busy, long enough for me to finish my work," Scarecrow said in a low tone, arms outstretched. He spun around and chuckled lowly before retreating into the sewers.

Batman grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, feeling the fear toxin take hold of him.

"Bamtan, are you okay?" He heard Nightwing's voice behind him, but when he turned it wasn't Nightwing he saw; it was the Joker.

["Oh, poor Batsy! Ya lost another birdie to me! And your new one, oh, I can't wait to get my hands on him!" The Joker taunted.] Batman growled and lunged at Nightwing, believing him to be the Joker.

"You won't touch him!" he growled, swinging a fist. Nightwing ducked the attack and retreated backwards.

"Batman, snap out of it! It's the fear toxin!" Nightwing shouted.

["Who should I destroy next? Red Robin? Or maybe Nightwing! Oh yes, Nightwing, definitely! Nothing could be more fun than twisting your first birdie!" The Joker cackled.] Nightwing blocked an attack from Batman but was slammed in the stomach with a fist. He grunted as another collided with his jaw, sending him flying backward.

"Oracle, patch Red Hood in, let him know Scarecrow;s still loose," Nightwing grunted, dodging another attack from Batman.

"But-"

"Do it! Someone has to stop Scarecrow before things escalate further!" Nightwing snapped.

"On it!"

* * *

The Red Hood managed to put an end to the fear toxin induced men at the second warehouse before too much blood had been shed, not that it was easy. He soon discovered that the reason the men had gone insane here was because the food had been poisoned, and it was fortunate that only a handful of the men had eaten it. He turned and looked at the damage; out of two dozen men stationed here, only six were dead. Tyler Bramford was also there, surveying the damage. Red Hood scowled and stormed up to him.

"Throw out all the god damn food! Nobody eat it, or I'll put a bullet in your fucking skull!" he growled. He spun around the room, looking at his remaining men.

"The fear toxin is in the food. Now do as I say and throw it out!" He snapped again, retreating from the warehouse. Once he was out of the building, he heard someone over his comm link. _Barbara._

"Red Hood, it's Oracle-"

"so that's what you call yourself now," he said evenly, interrupting her. Every time he saw her, or heard her voice, he couldn't help but think of the Joker, the sadistic fucking prick who put her in that chair.

"Yeah. Now shut up and listen. I know you're pissed at Bruce, but he needs your help."

"Does he? And why didn't he contact me and ask me himself?" Red Hood asked skeptically.

"Would you have answered him if he had?" Damn, she was kinda right.

"Yeah, well, if he _really_ needs my help, he can ask me himself."

"Jay, you're being a brat." Red Hood sighed annoyedly.

"Fine, fine. What the hell does the old man want now?" he asked flatly.

"He's been injected with fear toxin. Scarecrow _literally_ got the drop on him. Nightwing is holding him off-"

"Wait, what?" Red Hood asked.

"Nightwing arrived shortly after he was injected. Look, now's not the time, we have to track Scarecrow down before he causes any more damage," Oracle explained. Red Hood snorted and grappled up to a building nearby.

"Where is he then?"

"Batman managed to plant a tracker on him at the last moment. I'm tracing him heading toward Admiral Docks," Oracle answered. Red Hood sword up a storm; the Admiral Docks was recently...acquired...from Black Mask and was a major shipping dock for smuggling things in and out of Gotham. If Scarecrow doused that place in fear gas and weakened his position there, Black Mask could send men in to re-take it and gain back some of his former strength, while setting him back a bit. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"Nightwing's sent you his Wing Glider," Oracle said. Red Hood looked up to the sky to see the glider above and grinned, jumping off the building and grabbing a hold of it.

The Admiral Docks came into sight in almost no time at all, at which point he hopped down from the glider onto a roof below and then jumped down from that roof to one below and continued on until he reached the docks.

"Uh, boss. What're you doing here?" one of the men asked. Red Hood strode up to him and grabbed him by the collar of the shirt.

"Warn the others; keep an eye out for Scarecrow, he's coming here and he's armed with fear toxin," Red Hood said evenly. The man gulped as he was released and retreated to warn the others. Meanwhile, Jason armed himself with a pair of hand guns and went searching for the Scarecrow.

He snuck around the docks, keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Fortunately, he didn't have to look far. He heard light footsteps behind him and spun around on the spot to see Scarecrow behind him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Red Hood...you've stirred up quite a bit of trouble here in Gotham," Scarecrow said evenly.

"You don't say."

"Black Mask is paying me handsomely to get rid of you, and once you're gone, I can get back to my work, create the ultimate fear toxin!"

"If you only had a brain," Red Hood replied with a cocky smirk.

"Cute." scarecrow lunged in at him and swung his syringe-claw glove at him. Red Hood ducked back, having caught sight of the syringes as soon as he got close.

"Is that how you nailed Bats? A lucky strike from your Freddy Kreuger claws?" Red Hood taunted. Scarecrow didn't take the bait and instead attacked again. Red Hood easily avoided the attacks and retaliated with a barrage of bullets. Scarecrow growled as he was nailed a few times by the rubber bullets but quickly recovered and was on him again.

"Show me your fears! Everyone has them! Even a tough guy like you!"

"Who do you think I am, the cowardly lion?" Red Hood retorted. He ducked back from another attack and pressed his own, raining a series of strikes on Scarecrow that sent him tumbled backward, head over heels. Red Hood stood at a distance for time, watching him; Scarecrow didn't move...so he approached, cautiously, guns at the ready. He was probably faking being out cold.

As he drew nearer, Scarecrow suddenly lurched toward him. Red Hood managed to evade the surprise attack...mostly. One of the syringes scraped his arm, some of the toxin getting into his bloodstream.

"Fuck!" he shouted angrily. He clutched the scratch wound and fell to his knees, feeling the toxin racing through his veins. Scarecrow stood over him and chuckled with dark amusement, watching as the toxin took effect.

"That's right...give into your fears, lets the darkness consume you..."

Jason began to see...he saw Dick, dead on the ground in front of him, eyes wide and lifeless...He looked up to...it was supposed to be Scarecrow, but...

["Surprise, surprise, birdboy!" The Joker taunted, flipping a bloody crowbar.]

"No..." Jason murmured, reaching out to Dick;s body.

 _It's fear toxin. It's not real...It's not real!_

"Don't worry, your suffering will be over soon enough," Scarecrow tauned in a low tone, raising his scythe.

"Fuck you," Red Hood ground out. Scarecrow swung the scythe and Red Hood flipped himself over backwards, kicking the scythe out of his hands and pushing himself onto his feet.

"Dammit! Maybe you need another dose" Scarecrow taunted, raising his syringe-clawed hand.

"Yeah? Well, now I'm going to take you apart, piece by bloody piece you son of a bitch." Jason lunged at Scarecrow and delivered a powerful uppercut to his jaw. Scarecrow flew backwards and slammed back against a metal shipping crate. He didn't have time to react before Red Hood was on him, raining a series of punches into his gut and face. He grabbed the demented doctor by the throat and choke slammed him onto the ground. He ws fortunate it was such a small amount, he could still see Dick's lifeless body on the ground, but because such a minute trace of the toxin had made it into his veins, he knew it wasn't real.

He looked down at Scarecrow's unconscious form, kicking him once in the head, just to be safe. He'd contemplated blowing him away and even loaded a gum with real bullets.

"Let's see you scare anyone from the grave, asshole," he muttered, but before he could fire the shot, a wing ding collided with his gun, knocking it out of his hand.

"Don't do it," came Nightwing's voice. Red Hood looked up at him but said nothing, turning his back and taking off without a word. Nightwing just watched him retreat, a bit bewildered he hadn't shot off a 'fuck you' at the very least. But what was more surprising was that he'd noticed that none of the men Red Hood had encountered that night were dead. That brought a smile to his lips, even as he knelt down beside Scarecrow and cuffed him, signaling the GCPD to come pick him up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"How's Bruce doing?" Oracle asked from the batcomputer. Dick sat down at the computer, still garbed in his Nightwing gear, sans the mask, and raked his hands through his hair. He looked up at Oracle and shook his head.

"He's alright, but he'll be out of commission for the rest of the night. He got injected with a rather large amount of toxin," Dick replied. Oracle gave a nod in response, but Dick caught a rather worrisome look on her face from his end.

"What's up?" he asked. Oracle opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped, clacking away furiously at the keyboard.

"Oh shit," she murmured.

"What is it?" Dick asked, slowly rising from his chair. Oracle looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"You need to get back out there, _now!_ Heavy movement from Jason's gangs, and it suggests he's gong directly after Black Mask!" Oracle said. Dick stared wide-eyed; he knew Jason wouldn't let any civilians get hurt, but if this erupted into a full scale gang war, he wouldn't be able to entirely control it.

"Where?!" Dick asked, pressing his domino mask back on. Oracle clacked away on the keyboard and flashed a worried look.

"Several locations. He appears to be targeting two of Black Mask's warehouses, a safe house and a club."

"Shit! I can't cover four places at once!" Nightwing cursed.

"I can help," came Tim's voice from behind him. Nightwing turned to him and frowned; he was supposed to go on patrol, but he didn't have the luxury of declining his help right now.

He gave a nod and said "fine then, gear up." He turned back to Oracle and added "contact Green Arrow and Black Canary if you can. If we're going to stop this before it gets too far, we're going to need help." Nightwing made his way toward his Wing Glider and gestured for Red Robin to follow him.

The duo left the batcave behind and checked the locations that Oracle had given them; Black Mask had seven remaining warehouses, two of which were under attack; one in Colgate Heights in Midtown and the other in North Point Uptown. The club, _The Tap Room,_ aka _North Burnley Nightclub,_ was located in Burnley, and the safe house was somewhere in Randall in Uptown.

"Oracle, I'm dropping Red Robin off at the safe house in Randall. I'm going after the warehouse in North Point. Have Black Canary and Green Arrow go after the club and the other warehouse," Nightwing ordered over the comm link.

"Right. Why Green Arrow and Black Canary?" Oracle asked then out of curiosity.

"Batman trusts them the most, not to blow the city to pieces," Nightwing said in an amused tone. As the Wing Glider flew overhead of the safe house in Randall, Red Robin jumped off the glider and grappled down onto the roof below. Nightwing turned the glider a bit to head further north toward North Point.

* * *

"WHAT DO I PAY THESE IDIOTS FOR?!" Blasck Mask hollered, throwing yet a third desk across the room. When Black Mask threw a temper, he _really_ threw a temper. It was amazing there were still any desks left in Gotham.

Black Mask stopped dead in front of Ms. Li and said "you're telling me, that not only did Scarecrow fail, but that piece of Bat-Trash-Wanna-Be-Garbage is coming directly for me now?!" Ms. Li cleared her throat and nodded.

"It appears so, sir. He seems to be instigating a ground war. He seems to think he's winning." Black Mask snorted and stormed away from her.

"It's time to change up the ground war! Crush this little war of his, then go after him! Full out offensive! Anyone who has even a hint of a connection to the Red Hood dies! Blow them away and string their corpses up as a warning!" He opened his mouth to speak again...until he noticed a red dot on his forehead.

"...Fuck," he muttered. He looked toward the source the see the Red Hood waving at him, armed with a missile launcher. Black Mask turned and booked it out of the room, shoving his men out of the way, Ms. Li following behind him.

"Wow. He can really move when he wants to," Red Hood muttered to himself, firing the missile launcher. The missile hit the side of the building and exploded, killing everyone inside. Black Mask was thrown across the hallway, slamming into the wall. He ducked at the last moment as a piece of shrapnel flew over head and nearly decapitated him.

"Are you alright sir?" Ms. Li asked, followed her boss as he stalked down the hallway.

"I'm still alive, if that's what you're asking," he muttered. He looked back at her over his shoulder and said "as I was saying, it's time to change up the ground war."

"How so?" she asked. Black Mask growled lowly.

"I'm being forced to deal with a psychotic."

"Sounds bad."

"Bad? It's going to be a nightmare, but all bets are off," Black Mask responded in a low tone.

"The Red Hood dies. Tonight. I didn't want to play this little card, but I'm left with no other choice."

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" Red Hood called from down the hallway, aiming a gun at the two of them.

"Son of a bitch!" Black Mask shouted, ducking through a door as Red Hood fired at him. He and Ms. Li dashed down a flight of stairs, shoving past a group of his men who were on their way up to investigate. Red Hood gave chose and ran into said men, engaging and killing them quickly.

"Where you going, Mask? Too afraid to face me?" Red Hood taunted. Black Mask growled but ignored the taunts and slipped into an underground parking lot. He and Ms. Li, along with a few men who'd followed him, rushed to a couple opf cars and dove in. Black Mask looked back and saw the Red Hood following after them,

"RUN HIS ASS OVER!" Black Mask shouted as the man driving the car gunned it toward him. Red Hood dived out of the way at the last minutes as the two cars whizzed past him, but he wasn't done just yet. He pressed a few buttons on his own gauntlet and he raced out of the exit of the parking lot, his motorcycle racing up beside him. He hopped on and gave chase.

"Sir, he's tailing us!" the driver shouted.

"WELL?! LOSE HIS ASS!" The two cars moved into oncoming traffic, weaving between the oncoming cars at high speed. Red Hood narrows his eyes and followed suit from the correct lane, keeping his eyes on the two cars. A thug leaned out of the window of the second car and started firing an assault rifle at him, forcing him to back off a bit.

As soon as the gunfire died down, Red Hood sped up again in hot pursuit of Black Mask. The man seemed intent on losing him, because the two cars were moving at top speed now, into oncoming traffic, weaving back and forth. Not that it was going to work, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Red Hood drew closer and again a man popped out of the window with an assault rifle, but he was prepared this time. Before the man could fire off a single round, he threw a handful of shurikens at the man, sticking in his hand and forcing him to drop the gun. Red Hood then set the motorcycle to auto-pilot as he jumped to the roof of the car. A round of bullets pierced the roof as they tried to shake him, but to no avail. He reached inside the car and grabbed the driver, throwing him out, then dived back to his motorcycle. This forced the man in the passenger's side to jump over and stop the car to prevent crashing.

Red Hood glanced back with a cocky smirk before he sped off after Black Mask. The last car sped faster and so did Red Hood, dodging and weaving through the oncoing cars. Then a truck came into view ahead and Red Hood cursed as Black Mask's car just accelerated.

"That stupid fuck!" He shouted, speeding up to try and catch him. It was through sheer luck that the car weaved around the front of the truck and disappeared around it, forcing the truck to stop as well as Red Hood to avoid slamming into it. He cursed out loud as he slammed the breaks, tilting the bike to try and slide beneath the truck. Once on the other side, Black Mask had a huge lead on him.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted. He sped on anyway to try and make up for lost ground until the bridge exploded, cutting off his access. Cars squealed to a stop desperately trying not to go over the edge and even he had to slam the breaks again. He cursed and punched the front of the bike as he watched the man get away.

* * *

Nightwing swore up a storm, furious at Jason for this _fucking stunt_ he pulled; blowing up part of a building, taking part in a high pursuit chase that caused an accident and exploded a bridge, putting his life and the lives of others in danger. _What the fuck was he thinking?!_

"Where is Jason?!" Nightwing demanded to know from Oracle as he flew overhead on his Wing Glider. It had taken quite a bit of time to lay the incident at the warehouse to rest. Between not getting shot and taking out men on both sides of the battle, it was a real pain in the ass.

"I don't know. He's shut down his tracker, I lost him, I'm sorry," Oracle replied. Nightwing growled in annoyance but fortune smiled upon him; he saw him riding on his motorcycle on the street below and thought to follow him from the air.

"It's okay, I've got him. Tell me, how're Red Robin, Green Arrow, and Black Canary doing?" Nightwing asked. He activated his mask's enhanced vision to get a closer look, to ensure that the man he was tailing was Jason. That red mask was unmistakable; it was definitely Jason.

"Red Robin has finished with his mission. Black Canary too. They're converging on Green Arrow's location, apparently the fighting there is heavier than everywhere else."

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah he's fine."

"Alright, thanks. I'm not sure where Jason;s going, but I'm going to follow him. Nightwing out." He watched Jason carefully from above as the man pulled his motorcycle up to an apartment building, bordering on Crime Alley, stashing the bike down an alleyway. The man looked around to see if he'd been followed before sliding inside the building through a broken window. Nightwing's eyes narrowed as he hopped down from the Wing Glider above. He recognized the building as the one where Jason had grown up. He kicked himself mentally because he completely dismissed the idea as too obvious.

Nightwing slipped into the building after Jason, moving silently and utilizing his full stealth training. But it was for naught. Jason spun around the corner and pointed a gun at him.

"Fuck, Dickie, I almost shot your ass," he muttered, slipping past him and pushing the door to his apartment open. Dick growled and peeled off his mask, following Jason inside.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you have a god damned death wish, you stupid son of a bitch?!" Dick shouted at him. Jason turned and quirked an eyebrow, flopping down onto the couch.

"Well, where should I start? Because there's quite a bit wrong with me," he joked, but Dick wasn't in the mood to joke. He stormed across the room and grabbed Jason up by the collar of his shirt, hauling him off the couch.

"You could have _died,_ Jason! I know all about your high speed chase through Gotham! There was an accident, and the bridge, and people could have been hurt! And you...!" Dick ranted. Jason just watched him, eyes narrowed before he carefully pried Dick's hands off of his shirt.

"Well, nobody died, and I'm not dead, so you can get off my ass," Jason growled. Dick reluctantly let him go and just stared at him incredulously.

"Really? That's _all_ you have to say?!"

"What more should I say? You, Tim, Ollie and Dinah had to go ahead and fuck everything up by getting in my god damn way," Jason snapped, flopping back down on the couch.

"Getting in the way of what?! You're little fucking gang war?!" Dick shouted again. Jason snorted and got to his feet, getting up in Dick's face and jabbing him in the chest with his finger.

"I was going to end it all tonight! Take the last key positions in Black Mask's little empire and blow his fucking head off! But you had to interfere!" He growled lowly before stalking off into the kitchen. He grabbed a beer, keenly aware that Dick had followed him and looked over his shoulder.

"Not that it matters anyway. He got away."

"Why?! Why all this?! Why for once in your stubborn ass, prideful, egotistical life, couldn't you fucking ask for help?!" Dick asked angrily. Jason put the beer down on the counter and looked at him, his expression softening a bit.

"I had to end it tonight. Hiring Scarecrow showed a level of desperation I hadn't expected yet. He needed to be stopped before it got worse. Before..." Jason paused, but Dick didn't need him to continue for him to know what he was thinking.

"That didn't answer ,y question. _Why_ didn't you come to us?! To me, at the very _least!_ " There was an unconformable paused, an awkward silence settling over the room as Jason averted his gaze from Dick, staring at the floor. He finally looked up at Dick and sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt," he said softly. Dick flinched a bit at the answer, eyes wide in a mix of surprise and understanding. Was that why Jason had been so intent on keeping them all out of this? Why he warned them not to interfere.

"You stupid son of a bitch," Dick snapped, his voice somewhere between a whisper and room volume. He looked Jason dead in the eye and said "you're a stubborn ass. I've faced down super-humans, and you were worried I'd get hurt over a little gang violence?!" Jason suddenly realized just how stupid it sounded, now that Dick had put it like that.

"Just go. Get out. I need to think, to find a way to salvage this before Black Mask does something stupid," was all Jason had said, pointing toward the door. Dick snorted and waved his hand dismissively.

"Like fucking hell I'm leaving," Dick replied. Jason glared at him.

"Dick-"

"No."

"Dick, listen."

"No."

"Dick, god dammit!" Jason shouted, but was silence moments later when Dick closed the space between them and pressed his lips against Jason's. Jason was a bit surprised at first, but found that his power to resist was minimal, as he wrapped an arm around Dick's waist and tugged him close. When the two of them parted for air, Dick locked his eyes with Jason's.

"I don't give a flying fuck what you say or do, we're finishing this together."

"You're a stubborn ass, you know that?"

"Tea pot, kettle."

"Fine. But we do things my way," Jason said firmly, parting from Dick and grabbing up his beer before returning to the living room.

"I can't be seen working with you because-"

"Yeah, yeah, Underworld reputation, and all that shit. So what, are we just going to sit here and-"

"No," Jason replied, pulling a laptop out from underneath the couch and opening it up.

"We're going to hack into the Watchtower and use their surveillance to watch Gotham for any signs of that scum bag," Jason said with a wicked grin. Dick stared at him in shock first, before he grinned himself.

"Hacking the Watchtower, huh? Sure you can handle it? I haven't seen you employ your hacking skills in ages." Jason snorted.

"Just because I prefer the direct approach, doesn't mean I'm incapable of subtlety when the situation calls for it. Besides, hacking is like riding a bike, you never forget." The screen turned red and he got an 'access denied' screen. He frowned and said "on second thought, my skills are a bit rusty. Why don't you work your magic?" Dick just rolled his eyes and took the laptop.

"And for the record, you're about as subtle as a hand grenade."

"Fuck off."

* * *

Black Mask was surrounded by his men, Ms. Li standing beside him in a small, padded room with the Joker sitting right across from him, eating chips. He had to pull some strings, make a few pay offs and kill a few guards to make this meeting happen.

"I hope you understand the trouble I've gone through to arrange this little...get together here," Black Mask began, watching the Joker warily. This was a bad idea, but he was desperate; the Joker was completely in-fucking-sane and utterly unpredictable.

"A lot of money. A lot of...dead meat," he finished. Silence pervaded the room. The Joker remained passive, looking completely uninterested as he popped another chip into his mouth. Black Mask continued, pointing at the Joker "look, I've got a problem, and you are absolutely the man who possesses the gifts to take care of this...problem. I need you to murder the Red Hood. You think you can handle that?"

And still, the Joker remained passive an uninterested. He coughed a bit and asked "may I have some water?" Black Mask raised his hand in the affirmative and one of his men poured him a small glass of water. The Joker took it, examining it for a few moments before smashing it against the table and slitting the nearest guard's throat. Before anyone could react, he grabbed the dead guards' hand gun and executed each and everyone of Black Mask's men, save for Ms. Li.

Black Mask flinched as the sadistic clown started to cackle like a madman, frown deepening. His earlier assessment was correct; this was a nightmare.

"I'm going to need something to wear. And a very big truck," the Joker said casually.

"Alright. Anything else?" Black Mask asked. The Joker glanced around the room and said "I'll need some guys. But not these guys because, well, they're kinda dead." The Joker let out another bone-chilling laugh...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Hacking into the Watchtower proved effortless for Dick. Once he was in the systems, it was easy enough to hide the fact that he was there and get into surveillance, giving them a bird's eye view of Gotham that was unrivaled. Hacking was sort of a specialty of Dick's; he'd hacked into the Watchtower a few times when he was still Robin.

While they did that, they had Oracle keep her eyes peeled for any reports even remotely related to Black Mask, or the Joker, because they all knew that Black Mask may very well be desperate enough to break him out of Arkham.

"I've got something!" Oracle said over the comm links.

"Me too," Jason said. They both waited for the other to speak, but when no one did, Jason spoke first "I've got a visual on the Joker. He appeared to be on a bridge, I can't tell which one, but he's standing on top of a tipped over truck. He's blocked access back and forth and the GCPD has him surrounded with helicopters and everything. Whole nine yards."

"Likewise, according to the GCPD's own communications, the Joker has Black Mask, his attendant and all of Jason's Crime Lords tied up in the truck. He's apparently looking for the Red Hood," Oracle answered. Jason's eyes narrowed and Dick already decided he didn't like that look.

"You're not just going to hand yourself over," Dick said firmly, before Jason could even verbalize a thought. Before the conversation could continue, Oracle sent them live footage directly from the scene. The Joker himself wasn't there, but instead who they saw standing on top of the truck, was Harley Quinn.

"Where's the Joker?" Jason asked.

"No idea, all Harley has said is that the Joker wants to meet with the Red Hood," Oracle replied.

"Contact Green Arrow, Black Canary and Red Robin, have them rendezvous with us on the spot," Dick said smoothly, putting his mask back on.

"Will do," Oracle replied. Jason shut the laptop and grabbed up his helmet and placed it back on.

He turned to Nightwing and said "just so we're clear, if I have a shot, I'm blowing his deranged brains out all over the pavement." He didn't wait for an answer, pushing his way past Nightwing and out to his motorcycle. He revved it a bit before taking off down the street, giving a quick look skyward to see Nightwing following him via glider.

* * *

"London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down," Harley sing-songed, dancing around the roof of the truck like a drunken fool, arms out stretched.

"London bridge if falling down, my fair lady!" She finished on a sustained note, then giggling maniacally. She looked down to the tied and bound men and women inside the truck, including Black Mask.

"You let me outta here you demented freak! This wasn't part of the deal!" Black Mask shouted angrily. Harley mock pouted.

"Boo on you! You could at least try and enjoy my fabulous singing!"

"Aw, isn't that cute, a clown that thinks its people," the Red Hood taunted from above. The spot lights on the helicopters adjusted top light him up and Harley stuck her tongue out at him. She ducked down from the roof of the truck and pulled a laptop out from the cab and opened it up.

"Hey puddin'! D'ya want me to waste his cronies?" Harley asked. They couldn't make out what was being said, but judging from the sadistic grin on her face, it wasn't good. She threw the laptop aside and lit a lighter.

"Mistah Jay wants to invite ya to Amusement Mile! He's got a little surprise for ya! Don't keep him waitin' coz my puddin doesn't like to wait!" Harley called up to him. Red Hood shrugged.

"Sure, I'll be sure to drop by, but as for you, you're going back to Arkham," Red Hood said smoothly. Harley cackled and dropped the lighter into the truck, igniting the gasoline. The batwing flew over head then and doused the entire truck in foam, putting out the flames. Harley frowned in disappointment. Red Hood grimaced as Black Canary, Green Arrow and Nightwing showed up minutes later to apprehend them all.

"Batman, what are you doing here?! You need to be resting!" Nightwing snapped over the comm link.

"I'll rest later," he replied shortly, grabbing Harley up with a hook from the batwing. He flew off toward Arkham Asylum and called over the intercom "I'll take care of Harley. The rest of you track down the Joker!"

"Hey, where's Red Robin?" Red Hood suddenly asked.

"Red Robin? Red Robin, come in!" Nightwing called into the comm link.

"Fuck, no answer!" he swore.

"Where's this Amusement Mile? Maybe he went there," Green Arrow suggested. Nightwing gave a nod in reply.

"Maybe. But he shouldn't have gone alone! We have to go quickly!"

* * *

The five of them, Batman included despite having only recently recovered from fear toxin, arrived at Amusement Mile. The area was eerily silent and there was not the slightest movement from the grounds.

"Creepy," Black Canary murmured. Red Hood snorted.

"Did you expect anything less from the Joker?"

"Keep your eyes peeled for anything. Be prepared," Batman said in a low tone, leading the way, the other four heroes behind him. Their weapons were at the ready, Green Arrow's bow, Nightwing's escrima sticks, Red Hood's hand guns, and Black Canary's...well, she practically _was_ a weapon.

"Split up. Green Arrow and Black Canary, Nightwing and Red Hood. Keep your eyes peeled and keep aware," Batman said in a low tone, parting from the group. Black Canary and Green Arrow split from the group next, leaving Red Hood and Nightwing alone.

"I don't like this. Red Robin still isn't answering the us," Nightwing whispered to Red Hood, turning on his night vision. Red Hood did likewise as they both scanned the surrounding area. After fifteen minutes of searching, none of them found anything so they regrouped in front of the fun house.

"Well, we've looked everywhere else" Black Canary began looking inside the fun house "so do we dare look inside there too?" Batman's eyes narrowed as he looked inside the fun house. It had to be a trap, but Red Robin was missing and he suspected the Joker's involvement. And if the clown had harmed him, he was going to break every bone in his body.

"Pussies," Red Hood growled, storming inside with his guns drawn.

"Alright, come out you sick fuck! Tell me where Red Robin is, and maybe I'll kill you slightly faster than I'd originally planned!" Red Hood shouted. Nightwing cursed under his breath and stormed in after him, slapping him in the back of the head.

"Are you in-fucking-sane?! What if it had been a trap?!" Nightwing snapped. Red Hood glared at him.

"Look, Ti - Red Robin is missing, and if you guys want to cower outside, be my guest," Red Hood snapped back. He continued forward, the others following behind him this time. Batman rested his hand on Red Hood's shoulder.

"Hood, listen. I know you're worried about Red Robin, but this is the Joker we're talking about. We need to be car-" he began, but was cut off by Red Hood.

"I know, better than anyone, so don't tell me," he snapped, picking up the pace. Batman's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched him go on ahead. The entire fun house was eerily silent, until the got to the center of the place, and then it became filled with the Joker's laughter. Everyone was at the ready, waiting for him to strike.

Then a screen lowered down from the ceiling above and everyone backed off warily. The screen blinked on and everyone gasped to see Red Robin tied to a chair with barbed wire, and seemingly unconscious. The camera started to shake and then turned away from Red Robin to the Joker's demented face.

"Well hello my cordially invited guests! I have a little surprise for you!" The Joker mused, turning the camera back to Red Robin. A cackle sounded over the speakers and Batman, Nightwing and Red Hood clenched their fists in anger. Red Hood ground his teeth, he could feel his rage bubbling, his blood boiling. That sadistic fuck was going to hurt his little brother. And he was going to snap the Joker's fucking neck.

"As you can see, I found a stray little birdie! And being the kind soul that I am," the Joker turned the camera back to himself "I took the poor little thing in!" Another cackled sounded throughout the room.

"You sadistic prick! When I get my hands on you, I'll snap your neck," Red Hood ground out. The Joker chuckled in amusement.

"Well, you see Jason" Red Hood flinched, hearing his name from the Joker "I had grand plans for you! Another six months of of gentle convincing, and we could have been a real team! The Joker and Robin, Boy Wonder, terrorizing the city and doing as we please! A real dynamic duo!" He let out a demented laugh, the camera shaking, stilling again when the laughing died down.

"But Batsy and that annoying Nightwing just _had_ to keep searching! I thought killing you on video would be enough to deter them, but no, that joke-killing, Bat-ruining Nightwing had to go and ruin everything!" The Joker cursed up a storm. Nightwing chuckled in amusement.

"Glad to be of service," he joked, earning a laugh from Jason. The Joker laughed moments later.

"Oh, but never fear! I have a new birdie to play with! I wonder how long it will take to break this one," he said in a low, menacing tone. He cackled again, turning the camera back to Red Robin.

"But if you want your little birdie back, then we're going to play a little game!" The Joker cackled, turning the camera back to himself.

"You see, I've hidden bombs all over Gotham! Underneath Gotham General Hospital, the Gotham City Opera House, Gotham City Stadium, Riverside Hotel, and Park Row Theater! Disarm them all, and The Red Hood will be given my location!"

The five heroes exchanged glances, not liking the sound of this game, which most definitely sounded like a trap. They then turned their attention back to the Joker.

"Why me?" Red Hood asked. The Joker tsk'd wagging his finger.

"That's not part of the game! Just make sure you come alone, or I blow us to bits! Well, you better get started, you only have-" the Joker looked down at a watch which was a copy of his head, with a clock in its mouth.

"Fifteen minutes! Tata!" Red Hood cursed loudly, raining bullets on the screen until his guns clicked, signifying empty clips. Nightwing wrapped an arm around his shoulders to wordlessly calm him down.

"We have to move, _now!_ Fifteen minutes isn't a lot of time!" Red Hood growled.

"Right, Green Arrow, take the stadium, Black Canary, to the Opera House, Hood, go to Park Row Theater, Nightwing you head over to Riverside Hotel, and I'll take the hospital," Batman ordered quickly, the lot of them rushing out of the fun house.

"Oracle-"

"Scanning the locations for bombs now," Oracle said immediately.

Nightwing summoned his glider, Red Hood his motorcycle and Green Arrow, his, and Batman summoned the batwing. Nightwing turned to Red Hood and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be different this time," he said carefully. Red Hood loaded his guns and glared at Nightwing.

"Yeah. This time, the Joker gets a skull full of led."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The five heroes each rushed to their designated locations to find and disarm the bombs. Fifteen minutes wasn't a whole lot of time, so they had no time to spare at all. At each location, were hundreds of people all sitting on top of a bomb they weren't even aware of.

Green Arrow raced through the stadium, following Oracle's directions; the stadium was the biggest location so she devoted her attention solely to him at the moment.

"Alright, listen, I've hacked the security feeds in the stadium. It looks like there's a bomb underneath the spectator box on the east side!" Oracle called.

"On it!" Green Arrow replied, racing through the indoor area of the stadium to reach the east side. He glanced down at the countdown that Oracle had linked to all of them; ten minutes.

"Where is it?" He asked. Oracle clacked away urgently on the keyboard, using the security cameras to find any hint of a bomb. Green Arrow looked around for it, spotting something purple out of the corner of his eye. He raced over toward it, rounding a corner and finding a giant clown head with a purple tie and a bomb in its mouth.

"Found it!" Green Arrow replied over the comm link, carefully prying open the bomb. He gasped at the wires inside; there were at least twelve different wires!

"Uh, Oracle, we got a problem," Green Arrow said, linking her up to the camera in his mask. Oracle stared wide-eyed at the bomb, before shaking herself back to reality.

"Okay, listen carefully," she started, then began listing off which wires to cut and in which order. Green Arrow dutifully cut said wires, in the order mentioned, until they were down to the last two.

"Purple 0r green?" He asked. He glanced at the timer; nine minutes left.

"Um...let me see...green!" Oracle said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Well, here goes nothing," Green Arrow took a deep breath and closed his eyes, cutting the wire...nothing. He sighed in relief, then jumped with a start as a little flag popped out at him with the word "BANG" on it.

"Phew, I'm getting too old for this shit," he grumbled with a smirk on his face.

* * *

"The first bomb is down, progress report?" Oracle asked, linking back up with the others. Black Canary was the first to speak.

"I found mine, but um...I've never diffused a bomb before in my life!" She said, staring at a purple bow-tie bomb ticking down in one of the balconies while the show went on below.

"Okay, listen very carefully, pry open the front panel of the bomb," Oracle instructed. Black Canary did as told and pried off the front panel of the bomb.

"Fuck!" she swore.

"What is it?" Oracle asked.

"All the wires are the same color! Green!" Black Canary replied. There was a brief silence until Black Canary noticed something about the wires.

"They're numbered one through six."

"Okay, wait, don't cut them in numerical order!" Oracle quickly said. Black Canary eyed the timer; seven minutes.

"Then what?" Black Canary asked impatiently. Oracle clacked away on the keyboard while Black Canary tapped her foot impatiently.

"Okay, here's what you need to do, in this order: cut ONE, THREE, and FIVE," Oracle began. Black Canary knelt down in front of the bomb, grabbing the indicated wires and cutting them in order.

"Then cut SIX, FOUR, and then TWO," Oracle instructed. Black Canary repeated the process in the same order as instructed by Oracle; the timer stopped ticking down and she breathed a sigh of relief. That was until a small flower popped out of the bomb and sprayed some kind of liquid at her. She gasped when it struck her jacket and started burning. Cursing, she threw it off.

"Dammit! That was my favorite jacket!"

* * *

Nightwing had found the bomb in the basement level of the hotel. It didn't take much to get the place evacuated except to pull the fire alarm. He was now standing in front of the bomb, in the shape of a clown shoe. He cringed at the sight of it, but ripped the front panel off of it and got to work. Or he would have, except...

"Uh, Oracle, are you seeing this?" he asked, staring at the wires. Oracle looked through the camera in his mask and frowned. There were four wires; a grey wire with a black bat on it, a yellow wire, also with a bat on it, a blue wire with an 'R' on it, and a red wire, also with an 'R' on it.

"Uh...does this mean anything?" Nightwing asked. Oracle was silent for a few moments, glancing down at the timer; five minutes left.

"Well, it clearly has something to do with Batman and Robin..." Oracle began. Nightwing looked down at his costume, at the blue and something clicked.

"The Blue wire is for me, I think, and the red would be for-"

"Jason" Oracle filled in.

"Then that means that the yellow wire is for-"

"Batgirl."

The timer kept ticking down as Oracle clacked away on the keyboard.

"Wait, maybe...maybe the order is when each of us gave up our previous identities?" Nightwing suggested.

"What makes you say that?" Oracle asked, still trying to figure out the bomb.

"The 'R' symbols and the bat symbol on the yellow wire. We're not Batgirl or Robin anymore," Nightwing answered.

"Okay, but just wait for me to finish analyzing the bomb first."

"No time, you need to help Red Hood and Batman," Nightwing answered, snipping the blue wire first.

"You idiot! What if it exploded?!" Oracle scolded. Nightwing chuckled in amusement.

"Well, then you wouldn't be talking to me right now," he answered.

"Not funny." Nightwing snipped the yellow wire, then the red wire.

"Don't touch the black one. You're done. Bruce is still Batman," Oracle said, stopping him on the black. Sure enough the timer stopped counting down. Until some gas started leaking from the shoe. Nightwing wasted no time in putting on his rebreather; it had to be-

"Joker Toxin. Opening the hotel's vents now," Oracle called over the comm link.

* * *

Batman was in the basement level of Gotham General Hospital, standing in front of a bomb, carefully wrapped like a Christmas present in the middle of the room. The clock was counting down with only three minutes to go. He pried the bomb open and peered inside, finding several different colored wires inside and a small screen. The Joker appeared on the screen and laughed.

"Well, well, well, Batsy found a bomb! But can you disarm it before it goes boom?!" He asked with a cackle. Batman reached for the black and yellow wire but the Joker sputtered.

"No! Not that one, you'll blow us all so smithereens! But the re one! No, no, the blue one! Wait, it's the black one, then the green one-" Batman growled and punched the screen, then began cutting the wires; blue, then yellow-and-black stripes, then red, then black. The bomb made a whirring sound and the timer stopped ticking. A Joker head popped out of the back of it on a spring and a laughing sound could be heard from it. Batman frowned, ripping it off and breaking it against the wall before making his way out of the building.

* * *

"That's all of them, except the Red Hood's," Oracle said. She tried to gt a hole of him, but she got no answer. The four of them, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Nightwing and Batman, met back up at the top of Wayne Tower, now just waiting on Red Hood.

"I can't contact him," she said in a slightly worried tone.

"Relax, the bomb's diffused. I launched it into the air and shot it. Simple," Red Hood's voice came over the comm link then, amusement clear in his tone. Nightwing face palmed and shook his head, a big grin on his face.

"You're an idiot, y'know that?"

"It worked, didn't it?" The man replied, earning a laugh from the group, save of course, from Batman, who was content with a small smirk, hidden from the rest of them.

"Alright, I'll go get Red Rob-" Red Hood was suddenly cut off, and the clacking of keys on a keyboard could be heard on Oracle's end.

"I lost him. No tracer, no comm link, nothing. He's just...gone," Oracle informed them.

"The Joker," Batman said darkly.

* * *

The Red Hood growled in annoyance when his comm. Link seemingly went dead. The keyword being 'seemingly'.

"Well hello there, Mister Hood! Congrats on disarming my bombs! As promised, I'm now going to give you the location of your lost birdie!" The Joker's voice came over the comm link.

"I swear to god, if you hurt him, I'll break both your arms and legs and throw you in front of an oncoming dump truck," Red Hood growled lowly. The Joker cackled in amusement.

"Now there's that spark! Finally someone who knows how to have a good time! Now listen carefully, you can find the little birdie at..." Jason's eyes went wide with shock when he heard the location, but he didn't have time to think about it; each moment he wasted was a moment Tim could be in danger, so he summoned his motorcycle and raced off to the location; his childhood apartment building.

It wasn't a long drive to the building, which looked completely ordinary. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, anything that screamed 'The Joker is here', but he wasn't about to charge in like an idiot. He drew his guns and slowly, carefully entered the building, eyes peeled for even the slightest movement as he crept through the building. He headed for his own apartment, which he guess was where they were; the Joker had a sick sense of humor like that.

When he got there, he slowly pushed the door open with a gun and made his way inside; there in the middle of the dark apartment, sat Red Robin, bound and gagged to a chair. He looked up and his eyes shot open, moaning desperately at him. He felt a pain in his wrist as a crowbar came down on his wrist. He looked toward the source and was belted in the head by the corwbar. Fortunately, few things could break his helmet. The Joker cackled and started raining blows with the crowbar on him, but Red Hood kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into the apartment.

"Fine, I don't need a gun! Killing you with my bare hands will be much more satisfying!" Jason growled, making his first crucial mistake in his anger; he pulled off his helmet and tossed it aside.

"I want to watch you die, you sadistic fucking clown," Jason ground out, wrapping his hands around the Joker's throat. Through it all, the clown still had a grin on his face, and then Jason saw black, when something collided with his head.

When he came to again, he found himself tied to a chair, facing Tim. His eyes shot open and he struggled against his bonds, a single though leaping to the forefront of his mind; _no! Not again!_

"Tim," Jason called to the teen across from him. There was no hiding their names now, since the Joker clearly knew them. Tim stirred slightly and looked up at Jason, flashing an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Jay," Tim said softly. Jason shook his head.

"Don't be sorry, everything's gonna be fine!"

"Lie to the kid why don't you?" The Joker's voice came from behind them. He cackled like a maniac and struck Jason with a tire iron.

"It's like a little reunion, isn't it?" The Joker taunted, then striking Tim. Jason growled and struggled against his bonds again.

"Let me up, and I'll show you how to use that thing properly, " he threatened darkly. The Joker laughed again and drew a knife, holding it to Tim's throat; that ceased Jason's struggling entirely.

"Oh, I never had any intention of letting either of you go! Oh no, I have something much more" The Joker moved away from Tim to a closet nearby, pushing it open to reveal several bombs with only five minutes on the clock, as they started ticking down " _explosive_ in mind! This way, I get two birdies with one stone, Daddy Bats breaks, breaks his no kill rule, and I finally win!" The Joker cackled, his laugh devoid of reason or sanity, cold and cruel.

"You're a sick, twisted son of a bitch, and when I get out of this, I'm going to snap your neck with my bare hands," Jason growled, struggling against the ropes again. The Joker grinned like the devil and patted Jason on the head.

"I suggest you spend your last four minutes thirty-seconds of life saying your good-byes to baby bird over there," the Joker said lowly, exiting the room was a laugh. Jason struggled against the ropes holding him; Tim couldn't because he was bound with barbed wire.

"Tim, we're gonna get out of this," Jason said firmly, locking eyes with the teen. Tim just nodded; he couldn't do a whole lot wrapped up barbed wire. Jason slid a knife out of his jacket sleeve and started cutting into the rope. He glanced over at the bombs; three minutes on the clock. He swore violently when he almost dropped the knife, but managed to get a firm hold on it and started sawing again.

"We're not going to fucking die here. Not to that god damn clown. You hear me?" Jason ground out, teeth gnashing and brow furrowing.

"No, I have other plans, and they don't involve being six feet under in a wooden box," Jason joked a bit, trying to make things less tense. _One minute._ Tim smiled a bit and gave a nod. The knife was finally making progress, but the time was ticking down. _Thirty seconds._ Jason started to saw faster as the clock got closer to zero. With fifteen seconds to spare, the ropes snapped and he jumped up from his chair and raced over to Tim's side, trying to cut the barbed wire. He looked at the clock, only ten seconds.

"Fuck!" He swore, picking Tim up, chair and all, and throwing him out through the window.

 _5_

 _4_

 _3_

 _2_

 _1..._

* * *

"I've got a lock on his motorcycle! He's...at his old apartment?" Oracle called over the comm link.

"No time to question it! We have to go, _now!_ " Nightwing said, summoning his Wing Glider. Batman summoned his Batmobile and Dinah, her bike. Green Arrow hitched a ride with Batman as the four of them raced off to the Bowery.

"There it is," Batman called over the comm link, Jason's childhood apartment building coming into view. Nightwing flew down toward it, but the building exploded, sending shrapnel and chunks of concrete flying every which way

"No!" He shouted, dropping down from the glider into the roof below, then jumping down from there and racing toward the flaming wreckage.

"No! Hood! Robin!' He shouted, intercepted by Batman.

"No, we have to find him!" Nightwing shouted. He dropped to his knees, not even bothering to hide the tears that streamed down his face...

"Wait, he's...might still be...alive," came a voice from behind them. Everyone turned and found an injured but very much alive Tim Drake hobbling toward them. Nightwing rushed over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"He could till be...we have to look," Tim urged. Green Arrow took Tim from him and Nightwing raced to the wreckage, searching through it for Jason. Batman and Dinah were both at his side moments later. A sound, like a groan, caught Nightwing's attention. He raced toward it and lifted a large slab of cement, adrenaline powering his strength and tossed it aside.

"Jason!" he breathed, kneeling down beside him. Jason was covered in cuts and scrapes but otherwise seemed mostly intact, except for the piece of shrapnel lodged in his side.

"Fuck...I feel like hell," Jason groaned, blood spilling past his lips.

"Shut up, you're going to be fine" Nightwing urged. Jason chuckled weakely and glanced over toward Bruce. Suddenly all his anger seemed to petty. I guess dying had a way of rearranging one's priorities. If he wasn't dying, he sure as hell felt like it. The man pulled back his cowl and Jason could see just how worried he was,

"'m sorry. For everything," he managed, coughing up more blood. Bruce grabbed his hand and turned to the others.

"We need to move him, carefully. He's in bad shape," he snapped. He turned back to Jason and squeezed his hand.

"You're going to be fine, son. We're going to get you help," Bruce said sternly. Jason chuckled weakly.

"Dad...I...I don't think...this shit's too...serious. Just...lemme go," he murmured. Darkness settled across the world, and the last thing he saw before everything went black, were Bruce and Dick, hovering over him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The ride back to the batcave was the fastest on memory. Bruce wasted absolutely no time in racing back because Jason's life was on the line, and they were _not_ going to lose him.

The car came to a sudden stop and Bruce jumped out of the car, gingerly taking Jason from Dick's arms and rushing him across the came to the medical area. Alfred was on standby, awaiting their arrival with all his medial gear at the ready to take care of Jason. Tim declined help, stating he could wait; Jason was in dire need of attention right now.

As for Dick, he still had it together, but not by much. He paced back and forth as Alfred got to work on saving Jason's life, anxiety rising with each passing minute. In a way, this was worse than when he'd be kidnapped, because he was _right there_ just a few feet away, life hanging by a thread, and there was _nothing_ he could do. If there was one thing Dick hated more than anything, it was feeling powerless.

"Where is he?!" came Roy's voice from behind them all. Short red hair, black and red outfit, and bow in hand, he stormed over, pushing them all out of the way, stopped only by Dick.

"Alfred's taking care of him," Dick said in a low tone. Roy snorted, obviously pissed. He turned to Oliver and glared at him.

"Why didn't you tell me my best friend was in trouble?! Instead I have to learn from Barbara second hand! And that you were there!" He shouted, clenching his fists.

"I didn't want to worry you," Oliver admitted. Roy snorted and turned away from him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He going to be okay?" Roy asked Dick, patting his back. Dick sighed and raked his hands through his hair.

"Don't...don't know," he answered honestly. Roy sighed deeply and began pacing a little bit himself. All they could do was wait, and they all silently agreed that waiting sucked. A good couple of hours ticked by with no word from Alfred on Jason's condition. Ollie and Dinah had to head out; trouble in Star City. They took Tim with him, helping him change out of his Red Robin costume. They planned to take him to a hospital there, a simple precaution.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Alfred returned to them his shirt a little bloody from working on Jason. The man sighed, looking exhausted as he stood before them. Dick, Roy and Bruce all bolted up to him immediately. Alfred gave a bow of his head and said "I've done all I can. The rest is up to him. But he is stable for now."

"Can we see him?" Roy and Dick asked in unison. Alfred managed a small smile and gave a nod.

"Yes, but do not wake him. He needs all the rest he can get," the man said.

"Thank you Alfred. Go clean yourself up and rest, you've more than earned it," Bruce said quietly, patting the man on the back. He inclined his head and retreated to do just that. The three of them then hurried over to Jason's side. He laid there seeming almost lifeless, his skin as pale as the sheet he was laying on. There was a single chair nearby that Bruce offered to Dick. He sat by Jason's side and gingerly grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers, his thumb brushing over the back of his hand.

Roy chuckled a bit, drawing Dick's attention.

"So, how long? You two I mean?" he asked. Dick blushed a little bit and gave a shrug.

"I...don't know. We were together for a few months before he left five years ago...but I'm not sure where we stand now," he answered. Roy gave a shrug, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Well, regardless, it's about time," he said softly. Dick frowned at him and he shrugged again.

"It was kind of obvious with the way you two looked at each other. C'mon, you guys aren't as subtle as you think you are," he teased. Roy sighed, still grinning like the devil when he decided to head out.

"I gotta get back to Lian. Let me know when he wakes up, yeah?" he asked. Dick and Bruce both nodded in unison as the red head left. They turned their full attention onto Jason now, and just sat in silence, waiting, watching him for any sign of change. Dick glanced briefly up at a bag of blood being pumped into his veins. They all gave a little blood once a month in case of emergencies just like this. It just so happened he and Jason shared a blood type.

"He called you 'dad' y'know," Dick finally said, glancing up at the man with a small smile. Bruce looked up from Jason at the comment, managing a small smile himself.

"I know. He hasn't called me that in years. I'm not sure what it means though," he said hesitantly.

"You think he only said it because he thought he was dying?" Dick asked. Bruce gave a curt not, but Dick wasn't entirely convinced.

"Regardless, I think this is a god chance to try and mend things. You should take it," Dick offered. Bruce gave another nod and their full attention back on Jason. And there they sat for what seemed like hours, waiting for him to wake up.

"Nngh...Dickie," Jason murmured. Dick and Bruce both shot up and looked to Jason for signs he was awake. Slowly the man's eyes fluttered open, landing first on Dick. A weak smile tugged at his lips as he reached out for him. Dick smiled and gently grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers.

"Hey...you look like shit, Dickie-bird," Jason muttered. Dick snorted, followed by a laugh. Jason laughed weakly and even Bruce joined in on the laughter.

"Shit, I see your near death experience hasn't changed you one bit," Dick joked, sitting back down beside him. Jason managed a sigh, trying to push himself up into a sitting position. He growled as a pain rippled up his side and Dick pushed him back down onto the bed.

"Relax. Don't try to move. You know how much shrapnel Alfred pulled out of you?" Jason snorted softly and waved his hand dismissively.

"Shrapnel? Try getting blown up. Shrapnel is small time," he muttered. Dick laughed again and Jason rolled his eyes.

"Can't believe this, laughing at my misery," he mock pouted. Dick leaned down and pressed his lips against Jason's. The younger man smiled into the kiss, cupping the back of Dick's neck, thumb stroking across the skin as he held him there for a few moments, just enjoying the warmth of his lips. Bruce cleared his throat and the two of them pulled apart. Then Jason turned his attention on him.

"Shit. Are we going to have one of those sappy father-son talks now? Well, I guess it's as good a time as any, now that I'm stoned off my ass on pain meds," Jason muttered, earning a laugh from Dick and a smirk from Bruce.

"We can talk later," Bruce offered. Jason glanced up at the man and gave a nod.

"Sure. Although I might be a bit cranky if I'm off my drugs."

"I'll take my chances," Bruce mused, leaving the two of them alone to give them some privacy.

Jason sighed and turned his attention back to Dick, cupping his face and stroking his thumb over his cheek.

"S'probably the pain meds talking, but you're beautiful, y'know that?" Jason said softly. Dick snorted and rested his hand on top of Jason's, leaning into the touch.

"Definitely the pain meds. There's a distinct lack of lust and perversion behind that compliment," Dick teased, earning a laugh from Jason.

"Fuck you, I'm high, leave me alone," Jason mock pouted. Dick chuckled and pressed a kiss to his jaw. The two of them sat their silently for a time until Alfred returned to check on him.

"Ah, Master Jason, you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked. Jason groaned and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Like I was hit by a car, and the bastard backed up on me. Oh, and high off my ass," Jason replied.

"Language, young master," Alfred replied.

"Sorry. High, remember?" Alfred stepped up beside him and began checking his wounds and responses to stimuli. After that, Alfred retreated from the cave, returning some time later with food and tea for both Jason and Dick.

"Eat up Master Jason. All of it. You need to build up your strength. We'll move you to your old bedroom afterward," Alfred said, or rather ordered. Jason merely nodded in reply; you didn't disobey an order from Alfred. Not even Bruce. Alfred sat with them while they ate to ensure that Jason ate every last bite. And despite his seemingly aloof attitude, he viewed them all, Bruce, Dick, and Jason as his own children. He _did_ raise them after all.

Once Jason was finished, Alfred took the tray and, uncharacteristically Alfred, patted Jason on the head before retreating from the cave.

"Master Bruce, you're just in time. If you and Master Dick would help Jason to his room-"

"Of course Alfred," Bruce replied, grabbing a pair of crutches Alfred had set aside for him. He made his way over to Jason's bedside, helping him to his feet and handing him the crutches. Together, the three of them made their way up into the manor, Dick and Bruce on either side of Jason.

"Huh, I'm amazed Alf is letting my up off my ass," Jason joked. Dick glanced over at him and flashed him a smirk.

"He probably knew you'd be a petulant brat about it anyway."

"Fuck you."

"Maybe later."

"Boys," came Bruce's voice, cutting in between them. Jason and Dick exchanged glances, snickering like children as a smirk tugged at Bruce's lips. Once they got up to his old bedroom, they carefully helped him into the bed, Dick taking the crutches and placing them in a corner of the room, far out of Jason's reach.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Jason asked with a mock pout. Dick snorted in reply.

"Don't want you getting any ideas. You're staying in bed."

"I walked just fine all the way up those stairs, Dickie."

"You had help. We're not helping you again. Stay in bed, or I'll tell Alfred," Dick teased. Jason huffed.

"Tattle tale." Dick snickered again and left the room, Jason sitting up and looking after him.

"I'm going to let you two talk. I think it's a bit long overdue," Dick called back, closing the door behind himself. Jason huffed and fell back on the bed, glancing briefly over at Bruce.

"Still high. Now's a good time if you have anything sappy as shit to say," Jason deadpanned, heaving a sigh and staring out the window. The two of them just sat in silence for a time, Bruce moving to sit at his bedside.

"I meant what I said," Jason finally said, breaking the silence. He looked back over at Bruce, sighing once more and running a hand through his hair, white locks illuminated in the moonlight "when I said I was...sorry." Jason turned to stare back out the window, letting his thoughts wander. Honestly, he'd been stupid to think that these people, his _family_ didn't care about him. Especially Bruce. Okay, so there was still that little bit of anger at having been replaced, but to doubt that the man actually cared about him? Seemed stupid especially when he'd been right there by his side, worrying like everyone else.

"You had a right to be angry," Bruce answered suddenly. Jason turned to look at the man, his expression deadpanned as he stared at the floor.

"I replaced you with Tim. As Robin, but never as my son. But knowing how much you loved being Robin...I understand," Bruce explained, locking eyes with Jason. Jason heaved a sigh and pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning back against the wall.

"Yeah, well...I tried to kill you. Like, four, five times? So, y'know...we're hardly even," Jason muttered. He heard Bruce chuckle at the comment, bringing a smirk to his own lips as he glanced over at the man.

"Regardless, you're not the only one whose sorry. I am too," Bruce went on. His eyes averted to the floor as he swallowed hard; what he was going to say next would not be easy "you were right...when you said I gave up on you." Jason shifted a bit on the bed and Bruce looked back up at him, a sorrowful expression on his face.

"When I saw that video of the Joker...killing you...I believed it...I gave up..." he admitted in a soft tone, shaking his head. Jason listened carefully, wondering then how it was Dick was able to keep going, seeing that video. He was glad he had and he remembered being shot, but not by a real bullet, obviously.

"There's enough blame to go around. We've both made mistakes. All we can do now is-"

"Move forward," Jason filled in. And then Bruce moved onto the bed and hugged him. Jason sat there like a deer in the headlights for a few moments before he hugged the man back. Well, they still weren't complete good, they had their issues, but this was a start. Jason pulled away from the man and cleared his throat.

"Okay, enough with all this emotional claptrap. You keep it up, I might actually cry," he joked, earning a laugh from Bruce. The man pushed himself up from the bed and ruffled Jason's hair, earning himself a glare that probably would have been more intimidating had the younger man not been hopped up on pain meds.

"You should rest. We can talk more later," Bruce offered. Jason gave a nod and then a yawn.

"Sure. Preferably when I'm not high off my rocker, so I can be a properly, bratty asshole, as per the norm," Jason answered with a shrug, rolling over on his side.

* * *

Jason was an insufferable brat for the next three weeks that he'd been bed ridden. Especially after he'd been taken off his pain meds. He'd tried to 'escape' at least three times a week, but was always caught by Alfred and then ushered back to bed. He wasn't usually one to complain, but he complained quite a bit about being bored, or being stuck in a bed. But they all understood, well enough, because Jason was most certainly _not_ the type to sit still for very long. Not unless he was reading or sketching. They tried to keep him occupied with both, but after two weeks of it, he lost interest.

Dick knew what he wanted; to get back out there and go back on patrol. He and Bruce had a few chats about his idea of 'patrol'. Jason had agreed to show more restraint and not impulsively kill. But he made it clear he was going to keep the Red Hood persona, much to Bruce's dislike, but Jason made a good point; as the Red Hood, extorting criminals and keeping them in line, he _had_ reduced crime, and even put some of them gangs to good use.

But when Jason was finally cleared to leave, he was eager to up and about.

"I think I'm going to stay in Gotham," Jason said smoothly, staring down at the blood red helmet in his hands. He was garbed in a brown leather jacket with a black t-shirt, dark jeans and a pair of black boots. He glanced up at Dick, geared up in his Nightwing gear, save for the mask and flashed a smirk.

"The Red Hood's gotta be nearby to keep the scum bags in line, but I fully intend to drop by from time to time," Jason went on, tucking the helmet under his arm and moving toward Dick, stopping just in front of him. He licked his lips seductively and said "because a certain someone promised me sex, lots and lots of sex. Y'know how boring it was, laying in that bed for three weeks straight? My dick could use-" Dick clamped his hand over Jason's mouth, face painted pink.

"Okay, that's enough out of you. You _really_ need a few lessons in tact and decency," Dick muttered. Jason pulled the man's hand away, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Oh, you wound me, Dick! I'm fully capable of tact and decency," Jason replied, giving the older man a wink.

"But what fun is that? I prefer flirting, dirty talk, and-" he grabbed Dick's ass, the man yelping in surprise "being a pervert. So much more fun." He laughed and dashed out of the way as Dick swung an escrima stick at him.

Jason grinned, spinning on the spot, Dick skidding to a stop and nearly crashing into him. Jason held them both up and wrapped his arms around him, kissing him deeply, lips melting together, slipping his tongue into the older man's mouth, savoring the delicious moan he tore out of him. Dick's arms, by their own accord, wrapped around Jason's neck and kissed him back. When the younger man parted from him, he frowned at the _very_ mischievous look on his face.

"Hey, how about we fuck in the batmobile?" Dick snorted and rolled his eyes, slapping Jason in the back of the head.

"Pervert."

"You love it."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

"Cool, can we fuck now?"


End file.
